Sugar Cane Diseases in Uganda

Abstract

This was first discovered on Lugazi Estate in 1927, At that time it was limited to about 100 acres of cane. The distribution of the disease indicated that it had probably been present for about a year, though inspection of the estate in late 1926 had failed to reveal it. No indication of infection of local grass weeds was found, and the origin of the disease in Uganda remains a complete mystery. It has since appeared on Kakira Estate, again of unknown origin, and, as far as present information is available, its distribution is still limited to these two estates and native cultivation's close by them. No cases have ever been noticed in other districts, nor has any case ever appeared in the sugar cane nursery at Kampala, on either the older varieties or those imported since my arrival in 1926. It is therefore quite certain that the disease has not been imported on the newer varieties of cane; in fact it was found at Lugazi before any of these were grown there.