ABSTRACT
Sunflower is a native of North America and the Western Hemisphere. It is one of the major sources of edible oil production worldwide, ranking fourth after soybean, palm and rapeseed, approximately 13% of the world’s total edible oil production. Verticillium wilt reduces the yield in test weight, oil content and seed size, damage depends on the age of the plant’s infection occurs. Verticillium wilt symptoms first appear on older plants, generally after the six-leaf stage. Verticillium wilt management is mainly resistant to hybrids cultivars only effective, because of the presence of different races of the pathogen. Disease incidence of white rot may vary with location and season, as well as with sunflower genotype, and the symptoms appearing on sunflower stem or head are also diverse. Disease show different types of symptoms, depending on the number of inoculums, plant age, genotype, humidity and temperature.
