Vol. 11, Issue 3 (2022)

Author(s):
Kirtipal Singh, Jagan Nath Sharma, Bhupesh Kumar Gupta and DP Bhandari

Abstract:
Smoky blight canker caused by Botryosphaeria obtusa is one of the most important diseases of apple causing significant losses in apple production. Enormity of smoky blight in different locations i.e., Sirmaur, Kullu, Mandi, Kinnaur and Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh, located at different altitudes ranging between 900-2500 m above mean sea level (A.M.S.L.), were carried out during normal canker development period i.e., May to December during two consecutive years 2017 and 2018. Smoky blight canker was widespread in Sirmaur, Kullu, Mandi, Kinnaur and Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh and was more prevalent and occurred frequently in almost all apple growing areas surveyed. The incidence of smoky blight was maximum (64.94%) at Charna of Sirmaur district followed by Thunag of Mandi district (63.81%), whereas it was minimum at Pooh (2.16%) followed by Bhavanagar (2.70%) in district Kinnaur. Whereas, percent disease index of smoky blight was maximum at Charna (43.20%) followed by Hariphurdhar (41.00%) in Sirmaur district, while minimum percent disease index was at Bhavanagar (0.10%) followed by Moorang (0.53%). The mean percent disease index in the survey years for smoky blight canker ranged from 0.10 to 43.02 per cent.