Survival of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in infected stem of Indian mustard

摘要

Indian mustard [Brassica juncea (L.) Czern & Coss.] is one of the major oilseed crops cultivated in India and around the world and is grown in the eastern, northern and north western states of India. Many biotropic and necrotropic pathogens cause diseases in Indian mustard at various growth stages starting from germination to maturity. Among them, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary, causing Sclerotinia stem rot disease is the most important necrotropic soil borne fungal pathogen. The fungus S. sclerotiorum is a polyphagous species that has already been reported as a pathogen of more than 400 plant species around the world (Bolland and Hall, 1994). In India, incidence of this disease was reported up to 72 per cent in Rajasthan (Ghasolia et al, 2004) and up to 80 per cent in Punjab and Haryana (Kang and Chahal, 2000). Yield losses of 72.0 per cent from Uttar Pradesh and 50.9 per cent from Rajasthan in Indian mustard due to this disease were reported (Chauhan et al, 1992; Shukla, 2005).