56 REPORT OF THE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 



and the Colletotrichum and Gloeosporium upon chilli have 

 been proved to be one and the same fungus. The most 

 important feature of the work on this crop is that the 

 disease appears to be transmitted through the seeds. 

 Various methods of seed treatment will be tried during 

 the current year and experiments will also be conducted in 

 the spraying of plantains against anthracnose. 



(8) Groundnut leaf disease. — The relation between the 

 incidence of the tikka disease of groundnut and the amount 

 of cultivation and export of that crop was the subject of an 

 inquiry during the year under review. Between 1894 and 

 1902 the export of groundnuts fell from 78,488 tons to 

 2,890 and the trade became practically extinct. The fall in 

 the exports was due not to any deterioration in the quality 

 of the produce, but to a marked decrease in the yield per 

 acre, which appeared to be the result of a fungal disease, 

 known locally as tikka. Treatment with fungicides had 

 no effect in stopping the disease and, in 1902, the Bombay 

 Department of Agriculture commenced the introduction of 

 exotic varieties. These varieties were also attacked by 

 tikka, but some, which ripened early, did not have their 

 yield appreciably affected. Two varieties from Japan 

 were especially useful in forming their nuts before the 

 disease was sufficiently established on them to damage the 

 produce. As a result of this, the exotic varieties, intro- 

 duced by the Bombay Department of Agriculture, have 

 now replaced the indigenous in all districts except the 

 Poona district. Moreover by 1912 the tikka disease had 

 decreased to such an extent that, in the whole Bombay 

 Presidency, diseased specimens could only be obtained on 

 the Manjri Farm. Coincident with the introduction of 

 exotic varieties and the decrease in the amount of tikka 

 disease the exports began to rise. In 1902 they were 2,890 

 tons, in 1906 they were 6,527 tons, in 1909, 23,934 tons, and 

 in 1912, 48,801 tons. This is probably one of the most 

 marked cases on record where a crop disease has been 

 checked and a trade rejuvenated by the introduction and 

 acclimatisation of new varieties. 



