Turcicum Leaf Blight: A Ubiquitous Foliar Disease of Maize (Zea mays L.)

Maize is the world’s third leading cereal crop, after wheat and rice. It most probably originated in Central America, specifically Mexico and spread Northward to Canada and Southward to Argentina. As per the USDA report of May, 2016, the world maize production has been estimated about 96.88 crore tonnes in 2015-16 which is 4.6 per cent lower than last year (101.35 crore tonnes). Turcicum leaf blight is a common disease of maize in many parts of the world including India (Figure 1). Turcicum leaf blight is a common disease of maize in many parts of the world including India. Turcicum Leaf bright incited by the ascomycete Setosphaeria turcica, Anamorph Exserohilum turcicum. It was first reported in the USA in New Jersey in 1878, this was followed by a serious outbreak of Turcicum leaf blight in Connecticut in 1889 (Drechsler, 1923). Turcicum leaf blight is favored by mild temperature and high humidity (Ullstrup, 1970). Heavy dews, cool temperature and frequent rains create good environmental conditions for disease development (Jordan et al., 1983). TLB in India, the disease is prevalent in Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, North Eastern Hill state and also affects Rabi maize in plains. It reduces the grain yield of maize considerably all over the world. Grain yield can be reduced to 50% when TLB become severe before either qualitative (Monogenic) or quantitative (Polygenic) flowering (Raymundo et al., 1981; Tefferi et al., 1996). Resistant cultivars International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 6 Number 3 (2017) pp. 825-831 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com