Occurrence of Alternaria leaf blight of groundnut in Gujarat and reaction of some genotypes against the disease.

ABSTRACT: Outbreak of a hitherto minor disease, Alternaria leaf blight was observed in farmer’s fields during 2009 in summercrop of groundnut in Saurashtra and Kuchchh regions of Gujarat. Though, this disease has been reported to occur twodecades ago, this is the first report of its widespread occurrence from any state of India. The characteristic symptoms of thedisease are blighting of apical portions of the leaflets, which later curl inward and become brittle giving the leaf a raggedappearance. The pathogen identified was Alternaria alternata (Fr.) Keissler on the basis of its morphological and growthcharacteristics. The pathogenicity test confirmed the etiology. The disease severity in farmers’ fields in Junagadh and Rajkotdistricts of Gujarat ranged from zero to 67 percent across the cultivars and crop growth phases. The cultivars, TG-37A, TPG-41and JL-42 were found more susceptible than others. Losses of crop were in terms of reduced pod and fodder yields. Theoutbreak of the disease could be due to changes in cropping patterns, the cultivars and the climatic parameters.Key words: