Effect of Leaf Crinkle Disease on Yield and Quality of Urdbean (Vigna mungo L. Hepper) in Himachal Pradesh

The study was conducted to assess the losses caused by leaf crinkle disease in terms of quantity and quality in urdbean in Himachal Pradesh. The disease is caused by urdbean leaf crinkle virus (ULCV) which consists of filamentous virus particles. There was significant reduction in yield components (cv. T-9) viz., plant height (23.8%), inter-nodal length (20.0%), pods/plant (70.0%), pod length (18.8%), seeds/pods (37.5%) and seed weight/plant (25.0%) as compared to healthy plants. Seed quality parameters viz., germination (45%), seed viability (86%), seed vigour (0.74%) and protein content (21%) were severely affected by virus infection. The severe reduction in various yield and quality parameters in the infected seed crop clearly envisages the need to control the virus by adopting effective control measures.