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Pearl millet downy mildew research in India: progress and perspectives

OAR@ICRISAT

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Relation http://oar.icrisat.org/1134/
 
Title Pearl millet downy mildew research in India: progress and perspectives
 
Creator Thakur, R P
Shetty, H S
Khairwal, I S
 
Subject Millets
 
Description Downy mildew (DM), caused by Sclerospora graminicola,
continues to be a major biotic constraint to pearl millet
[Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] production in India.
The disease which had remained incipient on local
landrace cultivars until the 1960s, became a serious threat
to high-yielding, single-cross hybrids introduced into
cultivation during the late 1960s. The first epiphytotics of
DM occurred during the crop season of 1971 on the first
popular hybrid HB 3 and caused substantial yield loss
(Nene and Singh 1976). With the establishment of
ICRISAT in 1972, pathological research on pearl millet
began in 1974 to address the major diseases: downy
mildew, ergot (Claviceps fusiformis), smut (Moesziomyces
penicillariae) and rust (Puccinia substriata var indica). A
Consultative Group meeting on downy mildew and ergot
was held in 1975 at ICRISAT-Patancheru to review the
status of research and identify priorities. The group,
consisting of renowned plant pathologists and plant
breeders from India and other countries, made several
recommendations for downy mildew research relating to
the internal seedborne nature of the pathogen, its likely
transmission and methods to eliminate the pathogen from
the seed; the relative roles of oospores, sporangia and
seedborne inoculum in epidemiology; development of
screening techniques; existence of physiologic races;
multilocation evaluation of resistant lines to identify stable resistance; and development of chemical and cultural
methods to supplement the principal host-plant resistance
method of disease control (ICRISAT 1975). These
recommendations formed the basis for downy mildew
research encompassing basic, strategic and applied aspects.
These are still being followed in our ongoing Indian Council
of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-ICRISAT partnership
research.
 
Date 2006
 
Type Article
PeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Language en
 
Rights —
 
Identifier http://oar.icrisat.org/1134/1/ISMN-47_125-130_2006.pdf
Thakur, R P and Shetty, H S and Khairwal, I S (2006) Pearl millet downy mildew research in India: progress and perspectives. International Sorghum and Millets Newsletter, 47. pp. 125-130.