Shivanshu Mishra, Ankit Kumar Chaurasia, Shashank Shekhar, Rinku Bhaskar, Vaishnavi Singh, Vikrant Chaudhary and Ramesh Singh
Abstract
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is an economically important vegetable crop in India. Still, its productivity is severely constrained by tomato leaf curl disease (ToLCD), a whitefly-transmitted disease caused by begomoviruses. The present study was conducted to assess the occurrence and disease incidence of ToLCD in the major tomato-growing areas of Meerut district, western Uttar Pradesh, during the Rabi season (2023 2024). A systematic roving survey was carried out across six administrative blocks: Daurala, Mawana, Sardhana, Jani Khurd, Kharkhauda and Meerut. A total of 51 tomato fields were surveyed and representative plants were examined for characteristic ToLCD symptoms. Disease occurrence was estimated based on the proportion of infected fields, whereas disease incidence was calculated from the proportion of symptomatic plants. Tomato leaf curl disease was detected in all surveyed administrative blocks, indicating its widespread establishment in the study area. Of the 51 fields surveyed, 39 were infected, resulting in an overall disease occurrence of 76.47%. Among 890 tomato plants examined, 152 exhibited characteristic symptoms, corresponding to a mean disease incidence of 16.94 ± 1.69%. Disease incidence ranged from 15.17% in Sardhana to 19.00% in Daurala. The findings provide baseline epidemiological information that will support future molecular characterization, disease surveillance, vector monitoring and the development of region specific integrated disease management strategies.