OAR@ICRISATEffect of moisture stress, plant population density and pathogen inoculation on charcoal stalk rot of sorghumSPandeauthorL KMughoghoauthorR IKarunakarauthorThe effects of moisture deficit stress, plant population density and pathogen inoculation technique on charcoal stalk rot in the sorghum hybrid CSH 6 were studied in the 1980–81 and 1981–82 post-rainy seasons at three locations in India. Incidence and severity of charcoal rot caused by Macrophomina phaseolina were compared in three plant population densities, subjected to different moisture stress regimes created by withholding irrigation at various plant growth stages. Natural infections were compared to artificial inoculation with M. phaseolina. Combinations of moisture stress, plant population and inoculation treatments were compared to identify the combination most likely to develop maximum disease. Lodging, the first external symptom of charcoal rot, was significantly correlated with other disease symptoms used to measure charcoal rot, such as soft stalk, number of nodes crossed by M. phaseolina infection, root damage and plant senescence. In both seasons the highest incidence of lodging occurred when moisture stress was induced at the ‘flag leaf visible in the whorl’ growth stage. The greatest incidence of the disease was recorded in the highest plant population (266 700 plant ha-) at all three locations. No significant differences were found between artificially and naturally inoculated treatments. The maximum number of lodged plants was found at a density of 266 700 plants ha-1 when moisture stress was induced at the ‘flag leaf visible in the whorl’ growth stage.Sorghum1990Association of Applied BiologistsArticle

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