Smut diseases on sorghum in the Nakapiripirit District of Uganda

Farmers in Nakapiripirit District are facing a challenge of fighting sorghum smuts which are affecting farming in most parts of the district. The disease is caused by parasitic fungi and forms black powdery masses of spores.
 
One of the affected farmers said smuts affected their harvest last year. The district agricultural officer confirmed the presence of the smut disease and blamed it on poor crop rotation. He said farmers have often ignored advice to practice crop rotation. He said his office will devise possible ways to ensure that the disease's spread is arrested.
 
Welthungerhilfe, an agricultural NGO in the district, advised farmers to stick to only planting treated sorghum seeds or not to plant sorghum in the same garden every year.
 
Smuts are a group of fungi causing symptoms of spore-filled galls (sometimes resembling distorted leaf-like structures) on leaves or seed heads of a number of cereal hosts. They are spread by wind, rain, and with infected plant material.

Source: A ProMED-mail post
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