Screening Of Cultivars/Varieties Against Mango Anthracnose Caused by Colletotrichum Gloeosporioides

Mango (Mangifera indica L.), an important fruit crop belongs to family Anacardiaceae and is believed to be originated within a large area including north-western Myanmar, Bangladesh and north-eastern India. Mango is also the national fruit of India, which is largest producer of mango in the world accounting for 52-63 per cent of total production. Mango is affected by number of diseases at all the stages of its development right from plant in nursery to the fruit in storage or transit. Mango is prone to many fungal diseases like Anthracnose, Rhizopus rot, Stem end rot, Penicillum rot, Black mould rot, Mucor rot, Phyllosticta rot, Pestalotia rot, Macrophoma rot and powdery mildew, leading to heavy loss in yield (Ploetz,2001).. Among these diseases, anthracnose is the major disease of mango as it occurs at all the growing parts including leaves, twigs, flowers, fruits except root and trunk throughout the year. Anthracnose caused by Glomerella cingulata (Stoneman) Spauld and H Schrenk (anamorph: Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.)) appear to be more severe causing devastation of mango fruits during grading, packing, transportation, storage and marketing (Pathak, 1980).