Abstract

                                Rosette disease of groundnut was first reported in Tanganyika territory by Zimmerman in 1907. Sundararaman (1926) reported the occur- rence of a virus disease of groundnut at Palur Agricultural Experimental Station, Madras State. He named it as clump disease'. Storey and Bottomley (1928) concluded that the 'clump disease' reported by Sundara- raman (1926) in Madras State was similar to rosette disease of South Africa. Rosette disease is one of the virus diseases affecting groundnut crop in Tamil Nadu. The incidence of the disease varies from 0-25 0%. A scheme was initiated at the Agricultural College and Research Institute, Coimbatore with the financial assistance of The Indian Central Oilseeds Committee and later of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research to study the various aspects of the virus diseases occurring in groundnut crop.

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