REQUIREMENTS OF LEAF WETNESS AND TEMPERATURE FOR INFECTION OF GROUNDNUT BY RUST

Experiments are described to quantify the effects of temperature and duration of leaf wetness on infection of groundnut by Puccinia arachidis. After inoculation, a minimum period of leaf wetness, m, was necessary for infection. When leaf wetness duration was greater than m, lesion density increased with increasing wetness duration to an asymptote, D(max). The principal effects of temperature were on m and D(max). The value of m decreased linearly from 6 h, as temperature increased from 15 to 25-degrees-C and increased slightly at temperatures greater than 25-degrees-C. D(max) increased with temperature from zero at 8-degrees-C to a maximum at 22-degrees-C, and decreased to zero again at about 30-degrees-C. The experimental results were used to produce a set of curves relating an infection index to leaf wetness duration at different temperatures. The implications for infection of groundnut crops are discussed in relation to the climate at Patancheru in southern India.