This document discusses five common diseases that affect safflower: Alternaria blight, Sclerotinia head rot, root rot, gray mold, and rust. Alternaria blight causes dark lesions on stems and leaves and can rot seeds. Sclerotinia head rot causes heads to disintegrate, leaving sclerotia. Root rot causes wilting and bleaching as roots and stems rot. Gray mold causes soft rotting at wound sites. Rust causes powdery brown pustules on leaves, flowers and fruits. Management strategies include removing diseased plants, crop rotation, irrigation practices, fungicide application, and resistant varieties.

1. 3) DISEASES OF SAFFLOWER
I) ALTERNARIA BLIGHT:-
CAUSAL ORGANISM:- Alternaria carthami
SYMPTOMS:-
- It is the most destructive disease.
- Dark necrotic lesions 2-5 mm in diameter are formed first on
hypocotyls and cotyledons.
- Symptoms also appear on stem and severely infected plant gets
blighted.
- Brown discolouration appears on the stem, dark brown spots
with concentric rings up to 1 cm in diameter appear on the leaves
which later develop into large lesions.
- Seeds also may be affected. Dark sunken lesions are produced
on the testa. It may rot and damping off of seedlings occur.
MANAGEMENT:-
- Avoid growing in low-lying areas and flooding under irrigation.
- Remove and destroy the diseased plants.
- Seed treatment with Carbendazim with 1.5g/kg of seed.
- Spray Mancozeb (0.25%) immediately after disease is noticed
and repeat the spray 15 days later depending on the intensity of
disease

2. II) SCLEROTINIA HEAD ROT:-
CAUSAL ORGANISM:- Sclerotinia sclerotiorum
SYMPTOMS:-
- This disease may be common before or after flowering.
- Symptoms include dark-colored, water-soaked lesions on the
backside of the sunflower heads or the presence of white mycelial
growth, which covers the developing seeds in the head.
- As the disease progresses, the sunflower head disintegrates and
shreds, leaving behind large sclerotia.
- T​he head resembles a straw broom and can be easily seen from a
distance in the field.
MANAGEMENT:-
- Crop rotation can be done with non host crops.
- Excessive rates of nitrogen in sunflower fields should be avoided
as excess nitrogen can promote dense canopies
- For management of diseases caused by S. sclerotiorum on most
crops , it is recommended to plant minimal populations with wide rows
III) ROOT ROT:-
CAUSAL ORGANISM:- Phytophthora cryptogea
SYMPTOMS:-
- This disease can infect seedlings, but more often plants are not
affected until flowering.
- Plants may dry out, appear bleached and collapse in a short
time.

3. - Lower stems and roots are often discoloured and become
rotted.
- As the plants die, they take on a bleached appearance and the
base of the stem and the roots become completely dark.
- Plants may die individually or in patches.
MANAGEMENT:-
- Once infected, plants usually die. Losses can be minimised by
avoiding poorly drained soils and by using sound irrigation practices
that minimise the incidence of waterlogging.
- The risk of this disease is one of the reasons that many
advisers recommend safflower not be irrigated after flowering.
- Losses can also be minimised by controlling weeds and by
growing resistant varieties.
IV) GRAY MOLD:-
CAUSAL ORGANISM:- Botrytis cinerea
SYMPTOMS:-
- B. cinerea is a soft rot that will have a collapsed and water
soaked appearance on soft fruit and leaves.
- Twigs infected with gray mold will die back.
- Symptoms are visible at wound sites where the fungus
begins to rot the plant
- Gray masses with a velvety appearance are conidia on the
plant tissues are a sign of plant pathogen. These conidia are asexual
spores that will continue to infect the plant and surrounding hosts
throughout the growing season making this a polycyclic disease.

4. MANAGEMENT:-
- Gray mold can be culturally controlled by monitoring the amount and
timing of fertilizer applications
- Spacing of plants so they are not touching will increase airflow allowing
the area to dry out and reduce the spread of disease.
- Pruning or purposeful removal of diseased, dead, or overgrown limbs
on a regular schedule can also help to improve air movement.
- Biological controls or microbial antagonists used for disease suppression
V) RUST:-
CAUSAL ORGANISM:- Puccinia carthami
SYMPTOMS:-
- Seeding infection causes twisting towards one side. Chestnut brown pustules
are formed on hypocotyl leading to collapse of seeding.
- On older plants girdling and hypertrophy of the stem base may occur.
- Small, powdery chestnut brown pustules of 1-2 mm in size develop on leaf
surface which later turn black.
- Rust symptoms appear on leaves, flowers and fruits in the form of
uredopustules which are brown in colour.
- In seedling stage initially orange yellow spots appear, later turn to brown to
black on cotyledons resulting in drooping and wilting of the seedlings.
MANAGEMENT:-
- Avoid growing in low-lying areas and flooding under irrigation.
- Remove and destroy the diseased plants.
- Do not delay irrigation until the crop exhibits moisture stress symptoms.
-- One or two sprays of Hexaconazole/propiconazole 1 ml/litre 0.05%) or
mancozeb (0.25%) at 15 days interval.
- Seed treatment with thiram or captan 3g/kg.