Diseases

Sorghum Helminthosporium Leaf Blight

Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench

A complex of sorghum leaf spot diseases caused by the fungi Exserohilum turcicum, Bipolaris sorghicola, and other species. The disease manifests as brown spots, leading to the drying of the leaf canopy and yield losses of up to 50%.

In the reference 9 varieties crop Sorghum, where this is mentioned in the description.

The primary causal agents of the disease are the fungi Exserohilum turcicum, which causes Northern leaf blight, and Bipolaris sorghicola, which triggers target leaf spot. Pathogenesis can also be caused by Bipolaris maydis and Helminthosporium rostratum.

Symptoms of Exserohilum turcicum infection appear as brown, elongated spots with dark brown margins on leaves, stems, and inflorescences. Under high humidity, the surface of the spots becomes covered with a dark olive-colored bloom of conidial sporulation. The disease triggers mass wilting of leaves and seedling death, which significantly reduces the nutritional value of the green fodder.

Exserohilum turcicum isolates infecting sorghum possess specificity and are not always pathogenic to maize. Clear data on the physiological races of the pathogen in sorghum populations is limited, and specific resistance genes in this crop to Helminthosporium blight are currently not standardized.

General information about the subject — on the page Helminthosporiosis.

Sources8

Varieties of Sorghum mentioned in the description

Selection based on the description text, not on official evaluation: these data are absent from registers. For specific variety details, please refer to its profile.