ABSTRACT
Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) is an important cash crop from the family Gramineae, class monocotyledons and order glumaceae, subfamily panicoidea, tribe Andripogoneae and sub-tribe saccharininea. Sugarcane finds an important place in the history of Indian culture dating back to Vedic times till today being grown widely. The sugarcane production in Maharashtra and Northern Karnataka suffered significant yield loss due to this disease. Although the disease is present all over India, severe damage occurred in tropical regions viz., Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Gujarat of the country. Ratooning of infected canes and any stresses on the sugarcane plants increases the frequency of whip development. Moreover, high rainfall and severe winter reduce the severity of smut development. Rust is an important foliar disease of sugarcane crops which has caused severe economic losses to crop cultivation in more than 60 countries of the world.
