STUDIES ON THE INFLUENCE OF DOWNY MILDEW INFECTION ON YIELD AND YIELD-CONTRIBUTING PLANT CHARACTERS OF PEARL-MILLET IN INDIA

To estimate the loss caused by downy mildew, two separate experiments were conducted on pearl mil let cv. HE 3. Mi Id infection of downy mil dew increased the fresh weight of the shoot and the number of basal an d nodal tillers, but severe and systemic infection reduced all of them . Dry matter (%) increased with infection. Plant height and test weigh t were inversely related to the infection. Reduction in grain yield in categories 5, 4, 3 and 2 plants was of the order of 97, 65, 26 and 9% respectively over the category 1 (healthy plants). Based on the incid ence level of 62%, the estimated yield loss was 34% over the healthy c rop. The yield reduction was 57% when the yield of the unprotected cro p was compared with the yield of the protected crop.