Evaluate your understanding of key fungal diseases affecting cumin crops, their symptoms, and management in agriculture. This quiz covers early identification, causative agents, and disease impact on cumin yield.
Which fungal pathogen is primarily responsible for damping off disease in young cumin seedlings?
Explanation: Rhizoctonia solani commonly causes damping off in cumin by attacking seedlings at the soil line, leading to wilting and collapse. Fusarium oxysporum usually causes wilt, not damping off in young seedlings. Erysiphe polygoni is the agent of powdery mildew, not damping off. Colletotrichum gloeosporioides is associated with anthracnose diseases, not typical damping off.
A white, powdery growth appears on cumin leaves during cool and humid weather. Which fungus is most likely responsible?
Explanation: Erysiphe polygoni is known to cause powdery mildew, which manifests as a white powdery layer on leaves. Alternaria alternata leads to leaf spot, not powdery mildew. Fusarium solani infects roots and causes wilt, not this symptom. Sclerotinia sclerotiorum typically results in white mold rather than powdery mildew.
Farmers notice yellowing and wilting of cumin plants, especially at late vegetative stages. Which pathogen is most often the culprit?
Explanation: Fusarium oxysporum is responsible for cumin wilt, causing yellowing and wilting due to vascular blockage. Puccinia graminis is a rust pathogen affecting cereals, not cumin. Aspergillus flavus is primarily a storage fungus causing aflatoxin contamination, not wilt in standing crops. Botrytis cinerea leads to gray mold under very moist conditions.
During humid weather, small dark spots with concentric rings appear on cumin leaves. Which fungus causes this black spot?
Explanation: Alternaria burnsii is the typical pathogen causing black spot disease with characteristic concentric rings on cumin. Ustilago tritici is related to smut diseases in wheat. Cladosporium herbarum causes leaf spots, but not the typical black spot pattern on cumin. Phytophthora infestans causes late blight in potatoes, not black spots in cumin.
Which fungal species is a significant seed-borne threat to cumin, potentially reducing seedling emergence?
Explanation: Aspergillus niger can infect cumin seeds, reducing viability and germination rates, especially during storage. Puccinia striiformis is a stripe rust fungus affecting cereals, not cumin. Erysiphe cichoracearum is associated with powdery mildew in other crops, not typically cumin. Magnaporthe oryzae causes rice blast and is not relevant in cumin.