ABSTRACT
Progress in understanding fungal diseases affecting sugarcane: red rot R. Viswanathan, A. Ramesh Sundar, R. Selvakumar and P. Malathi, ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, India
1 Introduction
2 Symptoms and economic impact
3 Disease transmission
4 Diagnosis and disease management
5 Understanding host-pathogen interactions
6 Summary and future trends
7 Where to look for further information
8 Acknowledgements
9 References
Red rot is a disease of sugarcane stalks caused by the fungal pathogen Colletotrichum falcatum. It is one of the oldest recorded sugarcane diseases. After its first description from Java (Went, 1893), the disease was reported in Australia, the West Indies, Hawaii and the mainland United States (Viswanathan, 2010). In India, Barber (1901) reported severe occurrence of the disease. Butler (1906) subsequently conducted detailed studies of the disease, especially on the pathogen and epidemiology, and named the disease ‘red rot’. Worldwide, the disease has been recorded in about 77 countries. However, it occurs most severely in South Asian countries, especially India, Nepal, Pakistan, Myanmar and Bangladesh, as well as in Thailand and Vietnam. The disease also causes limited damage to cane cultivation in the United States (mainly in Louisiana), Brazil and Nigeria (Singh and Singh, 1989; Viswanathan, 2010).
