Exserohilum turcicum (Passerini) Leonard and Suggs: Race Population Distribution in Bihar, India.

Northern corn leaf blight (NCLB) of maize, caused by (Pass.) Leonard and Suggs., is an important foliar disease common across maize-producing areas of the world, including Bihar, India. In this study, virulence and distribution of races were observed against -resistant genes and also identified the race population distribution in Bihar. For that, 45 isolates were collected from maize fields in Bhagalpur, Begusarai, Khagaria, Katihar and Samastipur districts between 2020 and 2022. These isolates were screened on maize differential lines containing and resistance genes. Five different physiological races were observed based on the symptoms response of the differential maize lines. These races are race 0, race 1, race 3, race 23N and race 123N. race 3 was the most prevalent race having 26.6% frequency followed by race 0 (24.4%) and race 1 (22.2%) and the least prevalent races were race 23N and 123N having 13.3% each. Varied resistance response of different isolates was observed on differential lines having different resistant genes. Despite the fact that virulence was seen against all resistance genes, NCLB control might be increased by combining qualitative resistance genes with quantitative resistance.