Sugarcane Smut in Lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. Benigno Villalón, Associate Professor and Plant Pathologist, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Weslaco 78596. Plant Dis. 66:605-606. Accepted for publication 6 February 1982. Copyright 1982 American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-66-605.

Smut disease of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum hybrids) incited by Ustilago scitaminea was found on 25 August 1981 in a field of sugarcane cultivar CP 65-357 south of Alamo, TX. Preliminary surveys indicated a low incidence of disease with only tillers but not main stalks exhibiting characteristic smut “whips.” Screening experiments designed to find adapted sugarcane cultivars resistant to U. scitaminea for the area have been initiated.

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