~ 965 ~ International Journal of Chemical Studies 2020; 8(5): 965-967 P-ISSN: 2349–8528 E-ISSN: 2321–4902 www.chemijournal.com IJCS 2020; 8(5): 965-967 © 2020 IJCS Received: 03-06-2020 Accepted: 08-07-2020 TSSK Patro Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University, Agricultural Research Station, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, India KE Georgia Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University, Agricultural Research Station, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, India S Raj Kumar Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University, Agricultural Research Station, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, India N Anuradha Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University, Agricultural Research Station, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, India Y Sandhya Rani Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University, Agricultural Research Station, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, India U Triveni Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University, Agricultural Research Station, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, India P Joggarao Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University, Agricultural Research Station, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, India Corresponding Author: TSSK Patro Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University, Agricultural Research Station, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, India Screening for identification of finger millet varieties against blast and banded blight TSSK Patro, KE Georgia, S Raj Kumar, N Anuradha, Y Sandhya Rani, U Triveni and P Joggarao DOI: https://doi.org/10.22271/chemi.2020.v8.i5n.10420 Abstract 33 finger millet (Eleusine coracana) genotypes were evaluated for resistance to blast (Pyricularia grisea) at Agricultural Research Station, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, India, during kharif, 2019 under natural disease pressure. None of the genotypes was found free from disease incidence. Minimum percentage of neck and finger blast severity was recorded in VL 399 (19.0% and 15.0%) and the maximum percentage of disease severity was observed in PR 1643 (69.3% and 62.3%) whereas it was 73.5% and 74.0% in Udurumalliga (check) respectively. Minimum percentage of banded blight was recorded in check GE 4449 (20.0%) and all the varieties showed high susceptibility. Maximum percentage of banded blight was recorded in check Udurumalliga (98.0%). Keywords: Finger millet, screening, resistant, susceptible, blast, banded blight Introduction Finger millet (Eleusine coracana), is an important small millet grown extensively in diverse regions of India and Africa. Among small millets, finger millet ranks first in area and production. Among cereals and millets its position in production is sixth after wheat, rice, maize, sorghum and bajra. Finger millet consumption has wide range of advantages because of its high nutritive values. Finger millet is highly nutritious as its grains contain 65-75% Carbohydrates, 5-8% protein, 15 -20% dietary fiber and 2.5-3.5% minerals. It contains 5-8% good quality protein, eleusinin which our body can easily absorb. It also has key essential amino acids, tryptophan, methionine, threonine, valine, isoleucine and cystine which are required for good health. It is lower in fat content (1.3%) and majority is unsaturated fat. It is the richest source of calcium (344 mg/100 g), iron (3.9 mg/100 g) and other minerals. It is also rich in phosphorus (283 mg/100 g) and potassium (408 mg/100 g). It is highly valued as a reserve food in the times of famine. Finger millet is affected by several diseases viz., blast, brown leaf spot, foot rot and viral diseases. Among the various diseases that affect finger millet, blast disease affects adversely the crop from economic point of view, whenever it occurs. In fact the impact of the disease on growth and grain yield of the crop is so high. Under favourable environmental conditions yield reduction upto 100 per cent was recorded at Rampur, Nepal (Batsa and Tamang, 1983 and Getachew et al., 2003) [3, 5] . The leaf and neck blast severity varies within the season and also from one season to other. Mc Rae (1922) [6] reported this disease for the first time from India and gave an estimate of loss due to the impact of the disease. Blast disease is considered as number one in the form of yield loss in Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Mysore. The ultimate loss in grain yield is due to the cumulative effect of reduction in grain number and weight as well as enhanced spikelet sterility (Nagaraja et al., 2007) [7] . Banded blight disease was observed in severe form at the university farms in Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh and Berhampur (Anilkumar et al., 2003) [1] . The disease is characterized by oval to irregular light grey to dark brown lesions on the lower leaf sheath. The central portion of the lesions subsequently turns white to straw with narrow reddish brown border. Symptoms produced on every part of the plant thus gives a characteristic banded appearance, due to which the disease has been named as banded blight (Dubey, 1995) [4] . Rhizoctonia solani is a very common soil borne pathogen with a great diversity of host plants.