Prevalence of sorghum anthracnose in different agroecologies of Uganda

Abstract

Nine major sorghum growing agro-ecologies of Uganda were surveyed to establish the sorghum anthracnose incidence and severity. Hierarchical sampling was used. Severity of anthracnose in the field was rated on a scale of 1-5 where 1= low severity and 5 = high severity. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) results showed that there was variation in incidence and severity sorghum anthracnose disease. Both incidence and severity varied significantly (P<0.05) between agroecologies reflecting the effect of different cropping pattern on sorghum anthracnose epiphytotics. Districts within agroecologies showed a significant variation in both incidence (P<0.05) and severity (P<0.05) of sorghum anthracnose. This might be attributed to the different crop management practices carried out by the farmers within an agroecology. Similar observations were made for fields within the districts with significant differences occurring at P<0.05 for both incidence and severity. Variation in the prevalence, incidence and severity of the anthracnose epidemic in the sorghum growing agroecologies of Uganda suggest that sorghum anthracnose is a major threat to production in virtually all agro-ecologies in Uganda. Moreover the high severities suggest cultivation of very susceptible varieties. The cultivation of resistant varieties will support management of the disease.