Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2017) 6(12): 1399-1407 1399 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2017.612.157 Field Management of Taro Leaf Blight using Promising Germplasm D. Sarkar, N.K. Adhikary * and J. Tarafdar Department of Plant Pathology, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur - 741252, Nadia, West Bengal, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction Taro [Colocasia esculenta var. antiquorum (L.) Schott] is one of the major starchy food plants originated from tropical swamps in China, India and so on. Leaf blight of taro caused by Phytophthora colocasiae Raciborski is the most destructive fungal disease of taro [Colocasia esculenta var. antiquorum (L.) Schott]. The disease affects the leaves and petioles of taro plants, resulting in extensive damage of the foliage, typical symptoms are large often coalescing to destroy large areas of leaf. Resistant cultivar drives variety strategies for ward off the invading pathogen that include structural rural and biochemical defense mechanisms to protect themselves. Some of this defense mechanism expressed constitutively, while other may induce upon perception of the pathogen (Hammerschmidt and Schultz, 1996). The defense response of a resistant plant directly linked to signaling event leading to the specific defense response or introducing pathogens, which play a critical role in acquiring resistance (Maleck et al., 2000). Resistant breeding is one of the important options to manage the diseases but taro propagated by vegetative method, which hinders the breeding technique for development of resistant varieties. Natural selection of field resistant lines is main for searching the resistant factors associated with Phytophthora colocasiae. In present experiment, nine cultivars were screened against taro leaf blight. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 6 Number 12 (2017) pp. 1399-1407 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com Taro [Colocasia esculenta var. antiquorum [(L.) Schott] suffers extensively throughout the growing season as fungal leaf blight, caused by Phytophthora colocasiae Raciborski. The disease affects the leaves and petioles of taro plants, which are spreading rapidly, and coalesce each other, thus causes extensive damage of the foliage. Resistant cultivar invades the pathogen by structural, rural and biochemical means. However, natural selection of field resistant lines is the key for field management in acquiring resistance against leaf blight of Taro. Keywords Taro leaf bight, Germplasm, Season. Accepted: 12 October 2017 Available Online: 10 December 2017 Article Info