Abstract
Sugarcane smut disease, caused by <i>Sporisorium scitamineum</i>, is one of the most damaging fungal diseases in the world. This study aims to evaluate the effect of treatment with a formulation based on <i>Cymbopogon citratus</i> essential oil on the incidence of <i>S. scitamineum</i> in sugarcane cultivation. The study was conducted under controlled conditions at the research site of the Bingerville scientific pole in Côte d'Ivoire. Some sugarcane cuttings of NCo376 variety were inoculated by dipping in a teliospores solution of 5.106 teliospores/ml. Before planting, the cuttings were cold treated in a <i>C. citratus</i> essential oil. Propiconazole-treated cuttings served as a reference control and untreated cuttings served as a negative control. Agronomic parameters of the cane and descriptors of smut disease were monitored for eight months to assess the health status of treated and untreated plants. Analysis of variance and comparison of means were performed using the Newman-Keuls test at 5% significance level using Statistica 7.1 software. The results showed that, the pre-treatment of cuttings with <i>C. citratus</i> oil had a benefic effect on the cutting’s germination, height, tillering, stem diameter, internode length, number of internodes and biomass of sugarcane plants with the doses of 500-ppm and 1000-ppm. Moreover, the incidence of smut disease was greatly reduced from the 500-ppm of <i>C. citratus </i>essential oil. In addition, the essential oil-based treatment had similar effects to propiconazole and much better than the untreated controls. Therefore, this pre-treatment of cuttings with <i>C. citratus</i> essential oil could be an alternative to the use of chemicals in the fight against sugarcane smut disease.
Highlights
Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) is a plant cultivated for the sugar contained in its stalks
The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of pre-treatment of cuttings with a C. citratus essential oil formulation on smut disease in Côte d'Ivoire
Germination was total (100%) in cuttings treated with the natural formulation, the synthetic fungicide at 500 and 1000-ppm and the control
Summary
Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) is a plant cultivated for the sugar contained in its stalks. Since the establishment of the sugar industry in the 1970s, average cane yields have remained at 80 tons/ha [23]. This situation is mainly due to pests that cause considerable yield losses. Sporisorium scitamineum described as a basidiomycete fungus [21] is a biotrophic pathogen. This pathogen has been in Africa since 1877 from Natal and has spread to all sugarcane production areas since the 1970s [22]. These teliospores germinate rapidly under favorable conditions of optimal humidity and temperature of 25-30°C [25]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
