A Mini-Review on Smut Disease of Sugarcane Caused by Sporisorium scitamineum

Smut of sugarcane is caused by the fungus Ustilago scitmainea (Sydow, 1924). The first report of the disease incidence came from Natal, South Africa in 1877 as reported by Luthra et al., (1940) and it was speculated to be confined in the eastern hemisphere, until it was reported in Argentina. The disease spread is worldwide covering most of the sugarcane producing areas viz. Mauritius, Rhodesia, Indonesia, the islands of Java, Sulawesi and Sumbawa, etc. Until the 1950s, smut was of concern only in Asia, with an outlying population in Argentina. Since then, it has spread through South, Central, East and West Africa, where many of the areas not having focused breeding programme for smut resistance. In the 1970s and 1980s, it expanded to Hawaii, the Caribbean, the mainland USA, Central America and Southern Brazil. These outbreaks prompted a great deal of experimental work on sugarcane smut (Heinz, 1987). Subsequently, the occurrence of sugarcane smut in Morocco (Akalach, 1994) and Iran (Banihashemi, 1995) was established. The occurrence, prevalence and importance of the sugarcane smut pathogen have been highlighted by Antoine as early as 1961. The incidence of the disease was widespread covering several countries in East Africa, the Pacific and the Caribbean islands, wherein a severe outbreak of the disease resulted in devastating loss to the sugarcane plantations. Lovick (1978) comprehensively reviewed on various aspects of sugarcane smut viz. symptoms, yield reduction, causal organism, physiological races of the smut fungus, epidemiology, host resistance and management. It was reported that severe smut outbreak in the Caribbean has created an impact amongst cane growers and sugar industry.