Abstract

Bhide and Hedge (1957) reported the occurrence of ergot disease on cumbu caused by Claviceps microcephala (Wallr.) Tul. from Maha- rashtra State. With the introduction of high yielding varieties like HB1 in various parts of the country which are incidently highly susceptible to the ergot discase, the pathogen has gained a strong foothold and became a menace to cumbu cultivation. Dawkhar and Sulaiman (1965) reported that the disease is severe in cool humid weather in Poona. Shanmugasundaram et al (1967) reported the prevalence of the disease in late sown cumbu crop in Tamil Nadu. The incidence of the disease was noticed in many places in the Tamil Nadu since 1967 and in view of the poisonous nature of the ergotised grains, detailed studies of this disease were undertaken in this laboratory and the results are presented in this paper.

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