Economics 0f Integrated Disease Management strategy in Rapeseedmustard

Abstract

India ranks second in area and fourth in world’s production of oilseeds. Rapeseed-mustard contributes 26.1 per cent and 29.1 percent of the total area and production of the country, respectively. Rajasthan ranks first in area and Haryana ranks first in productivity of rapeseedmustard. The stem rot disease of mustard (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (lib.) de Bary), which was silent in the past has recently become a serious disease of rapeseed-mustard in Rajasthan and Haryana ( up to 80% incidence and 40% losses in yield). The pathogen is reported to have a wide host range, infecting 64 plant families belonging to 225 genera and 383 species without a single proven source of resistance in any host up to this date. The pathogen is a soil inhibiting fungi, the resting stage (sclerotia) of which is capable to thrive well in fields during off season and infect the sown crop right from its seedling stage. The sclerotia germinate simultaneously with the advancing vegetative phages of the crop, burst to liberate the ascospores, which become the secondary source of inoculums in the development of stem rot disease.