Abstract

The wilt disease on betelvine (Piper betle L.) is widespread in many parts of Madras State, especially in the districts of Salem, Tiruchirap- palli and Coimbatore causing heavy losses to the crop. Ever since the discovery of this disease by Dastur (1935) from Madhya Pradesh, as due to the fungus Phytophthora parasitica Dast. it has received attention of scientists all cver India and other countries like Malaya, Burma, Pakistan, etc. Mahmud (1952) has reviewed much of the literature on this disease. A perusal of this indicates that the work so far has been largely confined to the control of the disease and little is known about its etiology and the behaviour of the pathogen. The present report is the results of studies conducted on these aspects.

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