Rajneesh Kumar Awasthi, Satyendra Nath Singh, Sujeet Pratap Singh, Ajay Kumar and Jai P. Rai
Abstract
Two methods of inoculation were evaluated to assess the effect of Colletotrichum falcatum infection in different varieties of sugarcane. Assessment of relative performance of plug method and nodal cotton swab method of red rot inoculation was made. Inoculation was carried out in both plug and nodal method as suggested by the AICRP on sugarcane. Freshly sporulation 7 to 10 days old cultures of CF 07, CF 08 and CF 13 Pathotypes were used for inoculation separately. The conidial mass was washed with 100 ml of sterile water and collected in a flask. Conidial suspension at a spore concentration of one million conidia (106 conidia per ml) was prepared for inoculation. A total of twenty genotypes were evaluated for the resistance of red rot using inoculum of CF 07, CF 08 and CF 13 separately by plug and nodal cotton swab method of inoculation. Three standards varieties (CoJ-64, CoJ-64 and Co 0238) were inoculated to CF 07, CF 08 and CF 13 for the testing of red rot. The results from the recent study suggest that the utilization of identified resistance genotypes as donors in crossing would increase the frequency of red rot resistance in the progeny population for making effective selection and production of red rot resistant varieties in sugarcane. The resistant genotypes could be released for commercial cultivation having higher cane yield and quality.