210 A NEW GINGER DISEASE IN GODAVARI DISTRICT 
2,000 lb. green ginger. The price varies from Re. 1-8 to Rs. 5 per 25 |b. 
The crop is thus very profitable and any disease involves much loss to the 
cultivator. 
During the year 1920, the rainfall in August and September was very 
heavy, much heavier than in normal years. The disease made its appearance 
in August and gradually spread and grew in virulence. High humidity seemed 
to help the spread and progress of the disease. A few yards away from this 
plot there were larger areas under turmeric, which showed a severe form of 
leaf-spot disease caused by the fungus Vermicularia Curcume. Leaves and 
leaf-sheaths were so badly attacked that they got dried up, with the result 
that few rhizomes were formed. A few ryots attributed the disease to the 
manureused. A few others blamed the north winds blowing at that time. From 
fuller enquiries, it was clear that the disease appeared in August and gradually 
spread from north to south, the direction in which the wind was blowing. 
The disease made very rapid progress during the period of continued wet 
weather. A change of weather condition arrested the progress of the disease 
and many plants appear to have recovered, 
Description of the disease. 
Leaves were the first to show disease symptoms. Light yellow spots 
both on the upper and lower surfaces were a sure sign. These were at first 
small, round and oval, 2-3 mm. in diameter (Plate I, fig. 1). They gradually 
increased in size. Later, some of them coalesced together to form large 
discoloured patches, and tiny black dots appeared in the centre. The 
tissues in the centre dried up and holes were formed. If the open leaf gets 
the disease, it rots and dries up (Plate I, figs. 2 & 3). The leaf-sheath and the 
scaly portion of the rhizomes do not escape it. In the final stages, minute 
dark dots appear in irregular concentric rings in the diseased region (Plate I, 
fig. 1). These dots consist of a stroma, with large clusters of hyphe and 
masses of spores and sete. The sete can be seen with the help of a hand- 
lens (Plate II, fig. 2). When the central shoots are affected the entire surface 
is studded with these spots (Plate I, figs. 2 & 3). These show the fructifica- 
tion of the fungus. When several spots appear on the edges of the leaf, the 
edges roll up (Plate I, fig. 1). When the leaf-tip is affected it bends and 
droops down. The intensity of the disease is seen in the petioles and the 
scaly leaf on the rhizomes being affected. In a few instances, the lower leaves 
of plants show the disease while the top leaves look healthy. In certain cases 
the central shoot is affected and the lower leaf is free. Thus, the crop exhibits 
various symptoms pointing to the conclusion that these are cases of local 
