Maize Zea mays L. is one of the most important cereal crops in the world agricultural economy as food, feed and industrial products. It is a miracle C4 crop and has a very high yield potential. There is no other cereal, which has such an immense potentiality and thus is rightly called queen of cereals. In India, maize is grown in almost all the states. It is fourth in area 6.3 m ha, next to rice, wheat, and sorghum, but third in production 10.8 mt. It is mainly utilized for direct human consumption and livestock poultry feed. During the last few years, there has been a progressive escalation in its demand for the valueadded products, like glucose, sorbitol, dextrose, starchbased products and oil. Maize crop suffers from various diseases resulting in considerable loss in yield. Among them banded leaf and sheath blight BLSB on maize incited by Rhizoctonia solani f.sp. sasakii Exner Thanatephorus sasakii Shirai Tu & Kimbro, is gaining economic importance. It was reported for the first time from Sri Lanka Bertus, 1972 under the name Sclerotial disease. In India in early sixties the disease of minor importance in the western central Himalayan foothill region.

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