Sorghum Diseases in India

Sorghum Diseases in Central America
and the Caribbean Basin
G.C. Wall 1 and D.H. Meckenstock 2
Abstract
Sorghum in Central America and the Caribbean Basin is the second-most food crop; production in
the entire region in 1985 was 653 000 t. Of this, about 80% was produced in Central America.
Sorghum diseases are outlined according to their relative importance: dwarf mosaic and sugarcane
mosaic are important; in Honduras, yield in health}/ vs MDMV-diseased plants differed by 52%.
Gray leaf spot, the most widespread foliar disease in farmers' fields, caused 15% reduction in yield.
Oval leaf spot and rust caused 6% and 4% yield reduction, respectively. Zonate leaf spot reduced
grain yield by 14% in test plots. Downy mildew, acremonium wilt, anthracnose, and charcoal rot
are at times severe on sorghum; the first two have reduced yields by 44% and 36%, respectively.
Some widespread diseases—such as grain mold, covered smut, loose smut, and leaf blight—are
usually not important.
Introduction
In Central America, 523 000 t of sorghum grain
were produced in 1985. When sorghum grown
on the Caribbean Islands is included, the total
becomes 653 000 t (FAO 1985). In many Central
American and Caribbean nations, it is secondmost
of the cereal crops, following maize. The
sorghum plant itself may be used for forage, and
the sorghum grain may be fed directly or in feed
concentrates. In the home, sorghum alone or a
sorghum/maize mix is used as an ingredient in
tortillas, although maize is the preferred cereal
for this purpose. Other traditional foods, such as
atol, alboroto, and chancaca may be prepared from
sorghum grain.
Certain sorghum (broomcorn) cultivars are
grown for the manufacture of brooms.
Sorghum can be mixed with wheat as an extender
of baking flour (Herrera and de Palomo
1984), and thus could help reduce the necessity
of wheat importations for Central American and
Caribbean nations.
Sorghum probably reached Central America
from Africa in the 16th century, with an adjunct
of the slave trade. In Guatemala, El Salvador, the
Honduras, Nicaragua, and Haiti, as much as
85% of the sorghum production is from photoperiod-sensitive
'native varieties' or landrace
cultivars, mostly sown in association with
maize.
Intercropping sorghum and maize is a common
practice of resource-poor farmers. Most of
these farmers sow less than 5 ha each, most of it
on marginal land with slopes exceeding 8%
(Hawkins et al. 1983).
In general, the sorghum crop grows with
very little attention from the farmer. Diseases
and pests take a high toll from an already limited
potential yield. Yields may be thwarted in
the first place by the lack or insufficient use of
fertilizers, and by overcropping and poor soil
management in general. Land that is sown by its
owners is commonly overworked; for lack of
space, crop rotation is not practiced frequently
enough. If the land is rented or share-cropped,
1. Assistant Professor, Plant Pathology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Univeristy of Guam, Mangilao, GU 96913, USA.
2. Associate Professor, Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M University, INSTSORMIL, Apartado Postal 93, c/o Escuela Agricola
Panamericana, Tegucipalpa, the Honduras.
Wall, G.C., and Meckenstock, D.H. 1992. Sorghum diseases in Central America and the Caribbean basin. Pages 67-73 in Sorghum
and millets diseases: a second world review, (de Miliiano, W.A.J., Frederiksen, R.A., and Bengston, G.D., eds). Patancheru,
A.P. 502 324, India: International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics.
67