Vol. 11, Special Issue 10 (2022)

Author(s):
P Manasa, AK Senapati, Sandeep Kumar and Sanat Kumar Dwibedi

Abstract:
Groundnut stem rot is caused by Sclerotium rolfsii, a soil-dwelling, polyphagous, facultative parasite. Symptoms of stem rot caused by S. rolfsii on groundnut plants included the formation of a deep brown lesion on the plant's stem near the ground level, followed by yellowing of groundnut leaves, then loss of vigor and premature death. Current research was done under pot experiments to describe how the age of groundnut plants affected their susceptibility to Sclerotium rolfsii. Groundnut plants were inoculated with actively mycelium and sclerotia mass multiplied on sorghum grains at 0, 15, 30, 45, and 60 days after sowing (DAS). Results showed that S. rolfsii infects groundnut plants at every stage of their growth, from seed germination throughout the harvesting. Maximum susceptibility was recorded in 30 days old inoculated plants showing significantly highest stem rot disease incidence 91.67% which provide evidence that young stages of maturity are more susceptible to the S. rolfsii and the severity of infection was more and rapid. Susceptibility of groundnut seedlings to S. rolfsii decreases as the age of the groundnut plants increases.