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Major diseases of
maize
Turcicum Leaf Blight/ northern Leaf Blight
• It is caused by Helminthosporium turcicum
• Long elliptical grayish green lesions measuring 2.5 to 25 cm in length
and 4 cm width appear on leaves
• This fungus affects maize plant at young age
• Small yellowish round to oval spots are seen on the leaves
• The spots coalesce to form bigger spots and give blighted appearance
• Under high humidity the whole leaf area becomes necrotic and plant
appears as dead
Management

• Crop rotation with crops such as soybean, sunflower and beans

• Deep ploughing reduces initial inoculum carried over
• Grow resistant varieties like DHM-1
• Treat the seed with Captan or Thiram at 4gm/kg
• Spray mancozeb
• Use chemicals like tetraconazole, propiconazole
Gray leaf spot
Symptoms
• It is caused by Cercospora zeaemaydis
• It first appears with small necrotic spots with halos
• These lesions expand to become rectangular lesions about 1/8
inches wide and 2-3 inches long and gray to brown appearance
• It destroys foliage when plant is near grain maturity
Management
• Crop rotation can reduce initial inoculum
• Use resistant varieties
• Fungicide can be sprayed
Southern leaf blight
Symptoms
• It is caused by Helminthosoprium maydis
• Small yellowish round or oval spots appear on leaves
• These spots enlarge and become elliptical and the center becomes
straw colored with reddish brown margin
• Warm and moist climate are highly favourable for for this disease
Management
• Do not grow maize on same land one crop after another
• Plant at wider than normal spacing to reduce humidity in crop
• Collect and destroy infected plant parts and plant debris
• Spray Mancozeb or Chlorothalonil however seed treatment are not
advisable
Banded leaf and sheath blight
Symptoms
• It is caused by Rhizoctonia solani
• It appears on basal leaf sheath as water soaked, straw colored,
irregular to roundish spots on both surface
• Profuse mycelia growth is seen on the affected areas of leaf sheath
and stem
• Symptoms of this disease appear on all aerial parts of plant except
tassel
management
• Clean cultivation
• Destruction of crop debris
• Spray carbendazim or propiconazole
Head smut
Symptoms
• It is caused by Sporisorium reiliana
• Tassel or ears are completely or partially replaced by smut balls
• Soil borne spore infect the plant during seedling stage and grow
systematically with meristem
• The symptoms on tassel often indicate presence of smut pathogen
in maize field
Management
• Use resistant varieties such as Sweet corn, popcorn hybrid B840
• Transplant seedling late
• Seed treatment with sumi-8, tilt-100, raxil-2, etc
Ear rot of maize
Symptoms
• It is caused by Fusarium verticillioides
• White to pink colored cottony mold occurs on kernels scattered or
clustered on the ear
• Infected kernels are frequently tan to brown or have white streaks

Management
• Practice crop rotation to manage corn residue
• Maintain soil fertility and planting distance
• Control pests to reduce injury
• Store infected grain separately to avoid contamination
• Grain should be dried to less than 15%
• Select resistant varieties
Stalk rot of Maize
Symptoms
• It is caused by two species Fusarium moniliforme (dry and warm
areas) and Gibberella zeae (cold regions)
• It include wilting of plants leading to premature plant death
• Infected plants have discolored pith and roots maybe decayed
• Fungus overwinters in maize stubbles throughout the winter
• Some stalk rot discolor rind or develop fungal structures on the
rind
Management
• Crop rotation using soyabean
• Removal of infected maize stubbles
• Low N:K ratio leads to reduction in disease
• Use resistant variety
Downy Mildew of Maize
Symptoms
• It is caused by Sclerospora graminicola
• Long, rather broad and chlorotic stripes appears on the leaf
• When the stripes coalesce, the margins are lost and irregular
patches are formed
• Initially these stipes are yellow and finally become brown
• Young leaves are severely attacked
Management
• Crop debris should be burnt or removed
• Remove alternate host
• Deep summer ploughing
• Crop rotation with pulses or legumes
• Seed treatment with Bavistin, captan, thiram, @ 2gm/kg
• Use resistant varieties like Rampur-2, Rampur composite
• Spray metalaxyl + mancozeb @ 2kg/ha
The end