Abstract:
Nine major sorghum growing agro-ecologies of Uganda were surveyed to establish the sorghum
anthracnose incidence and severity. Hierarchical sampling was used. Severity of anthracnose in
the field was rated on a scale of 1-5 where 1= low severity and 5 = high severity. Analysis of
Variance (ANOVA) results showed that there was variation in incidence and severity sorghum
anthracnose disease. Both incidence and severity varied significantly (P0.05) between
agroecologies reflecting the effect of different cropping pattern on sorghum anthracnose
epiphytotics. Districts within agroecologies showed a significant variation in both incidence
(P0.05) and severity (P0.05) of sorghum anthracnose. This might be attributed to the different
crop management practices carried out by the farmers within an agroecology. Similar observations
were made for fields within the districts with significant differences occurring at P0.05 for both
incidence and severity. Variation in the prevalence, incidence and severity of the anthracnose
epidemic in the sorghum growing agroecologies of Uganda suggest that sorghum anthracnose is
a major threat to production in virtually all agro-ecologies in Uganda. Moreover the high severities
suggest cultivation of very susceptible varieties. The cultivation of resistant varieties will support
management of the disease.