Ergot and Smut

Ergot disease of Bajra:-

Pathogen:- Claviceps fusiformis

Symptoms:- 

> Small droplets of pinkish sticky fluid oozes out of the spikelets. The affected spikelets turn black and several such dark sticky patches are seen on the earhead. 

> Grain formation is inhibited. 

> The honey dew contains large number of hyaline single celled conidia. 

> Later infected ovaries get converted into sclerotia.

Management:-

1. Seed treatment:-

> Removal of ergot / sclerotia to prevent primary infection Dissolve 1 kg of common salt in 10 litres of water. Drop the seeds into the salt solution. Remove the ergot and sclerotia affected seeds which

will float. Wash seeds in fresh water 2 or 3 times to remove the salt on the seeds. Dry the seeds in shade. 

> Treat the seeds with Thiram @ 2g /kg of seed. 

2. Spray of Fungicides:- Spray any one of the fungicides like Carbendazim 500g or Mancozeb

1000g /ha when 5 - 10% flowers have opened and again at 50% flowering stage.

Smut of Bajra:-

Pathogen:- Tolyposporium penicillariae

Symptoms:- 

> The disease becomes apparent at the time of grain set. 

> A few grains, sporadically distributed on the earhead are replaced by green to black sori, which are much bigger than normal grains. 

> The sorus wall is tough, surrounding the powdery mass of smut spores which are in balls. 

> Favourable Conditions:- High relative humidity; Successive cropping with pearlmillet.

Management:-

> The only control measures recommended strongly for this disease are the removal of smutted ears, use of clean seeds, hot weather deep ploughing, field sanitation, and crop rotation.

> Attempts are required to raise resistant varieties of this crop against smut disease.