Comparative response of sugarcane single budded setts inoculated with whip smut pathogen Sporisorium scitamineum by different methods; these were evaluated for (a) germination, (b) disease incidence (c) tillering and (d) number of whips. Each treatment replicated three times, i.e., consists of seven bags with a total number of 42 single budded setts. The error bars represent the standard deviation (SD). Bars labeled with the different letters indicating that the mean values are statistically different (p < 0.05, Tukey,s test).