Abstract

Bamboos are vulnerable to various diseases affecting roots, rhizome, culms, foliage, flower and seeds in their natural habitat as well as in forest nurseries and plantations. Some scattered information is available on bamboo diseases from many of the bamboo gowing countries, especially, Philippines, Indonesia and Malayasia. Japanese reports mainly on Sasa and it allies and to a lesser extent on Phyllostachys, while Chinese works mainly on Pyllostachys pubescens Mazel ex Houzean de Lehaie are meagre. Some detailed investigation have recently been carried out in Bangladesh on a single disease, bamboo blight. Comparatively, more information on diseases of bamboos is available in India. Some information is also available from Soviet Georgia. The treatise summarizes observations about diseases of bamboos on seedlings, rhizome, root, culm, inflorescence and seeds, as well as foliage. The decay of bamboo culms during storage and use is not considered