Abstract:
Rubber (Heveabrasiliensis) is one of the major economically important estate crops andgeneratesthe third largest export income of Sri Lanka. Rubber plantations established mostly in Wet Zone and certain regions in Intermediate Zone and the cultivated areas are known as traditional areas.However, presently rubber cultivation has been expanded to the dry zone of country and the cultivated areas are known as non-traditional areas. Corynesporacassiicola is the most destructive foliar pathogen of the rubber plantcausing Corynesporaleaf fall disease (CLFD) and the disease has caused a major devastation in rubber industry resultingin a remarkable economic loss. This study aimedto determine the variability ofC. cassiicola isolates from traditional and non-traditional rubber growing areas using pathological factors. Ten isolates of C. cassiicolawhich had been isolated from diseased leaves of different clones grown in traditional (five isolates) and non-traditional (five isolates) areas were used for characterization.Variability inpathogenicity, temperature sensitivity,growth rate,conidia production,fungicide sensitivity to two fungicides; mancozeb and carbendazim and toxin production were examined. Data were statisticallyanalyzedand the final analytical output revealed a statistically significant difference (p <0.05) between the isolates, but not between two geographical regions for all parameterstested except for toxin production and sensitivity to carbendazim. Though isolates of C.cassiicolashowsignificant difference in pathological factors among isolates irrespective of geographical location, they do not behave differently in different climatic regions.
