Impact of Temperature and Relative Humidity on the Development of Taphrina Maculans Butler Causing Leaf Spot of Turmeric.

Abstract: Turmeric is a cash crop cultivated in India and other parts of the world.Turmeric was get infected by a leaf spot disease caused by a fungal pathogen Taphrina maculans.The fungal pathogen was greatly influenced by environmental factors like temperature and atmospheric humidity.Therefore the present work was undertaken to study the effect of temperature and relative humidity on the growth of Taphrina maculans. The effect of temperature and humidity were determined by colony diameter method using Czapek-dox-agar medium.From the results it was clear that the maximum growth of fungus was at 300c temperature.Below and above that temperature the growth of fungus was get reduced.The results also revealed that humidity range from 56.60% to 87.50% was most favourable for the growth of fungus.Below and above that relative humidity,there was decrease in growth of pathogen. Keywords: Taphrina maculans, Temperature, Relative Humidity, leaf spot