BLACKGRAM :: MAJOR DISEASES:: POWDERY MILDEW

Powdery mildew - Erysiphe polygoni
Symptoms
Small, irregular powdery spots appear on the upper surface of the leaves, sometimes on both the surfaces. The disease becomes severe during flowering and pod development stage. The white powdery spots completely cover the leaves, petioles, stem and even the pods. The plant assumes greyish white appearance; leaves turn yellow and finally shed. Often pods are malformed and small with few ill-filled seeds.

Pathogen
The fungus is ectophytic, spreading on the surface of the leaf, sending haustoria into the epidermal cells. Conidiophores arise vertically from the leaf surface, bearing conidia in short chains. Conidia are hyaline, thin walled, elliptical or barrel shaped or cylindrical and single celled. Later in the season, cleistothecia appear as minute, black, globose structures with myceloid appendages. Each cleistothecium contains 4-8 asci and each ascus contains 3-8 ascospores which are elliptical, hyaline and single celled.

Erysiphe polygon - Conidia and conidiophores	Erysiphe polygon - Cleistothecium

Favourable Conditions

• Warm humid weather.
• The disease is severe generally during late kharif and rabi seasons.

Disease cycle
The Pathogen is an obligate parasite and survives as cleistothecia in the infected plant debris. Primary infection is usually from ascospores from perennating cleistothecia. The secondary spread is carried out by the air-borne conidia. Rain splash also helps in the spread of the disease.
Management

• Remove and destroy infected plant debris.
• Spray Carbendazim 500g or Wettable sulphur 2kg or Tridemorph 500 ml/ha at the initiation of disease and repeat 15 days later.