Red rot of sugarcane, the most ravaging biotic stress to sugarcane and is responsible for the withdrawal of various varieties in sugarcane cultivation across the globe. The etiological agent of red rot disease (Colletotrichum falcatum) significantly degrades the quality and productivity of sugarcane. This disease causes 5-50% economic loss in sugarcane production due to reduced sugar recovery and cane weight by 31-75% and 29-83%, respectively. Substantial work has been done on pathogenic variability, screening, epidemiology, pathogenicity determinants, and disease resistance mechanism. It seems that there is a dearth of information on early detection and strategies to control pathogen because of many overlapping characteristics within the species complex. Various strategies such as cultural control, chemical control and biological control have been introduced to show promising results to combat this Phyto pathological challenge. The objective of the present manuscript is to summarize pathogen profile, symptomology, epidemiology, strategies and some future directions for diseases management. The present review is expected to be fruitful for further investigations.

Key words:  Saccharum officinarum, Colletotrichum falcatum, Chemicals, Nanoparticles, Phytoextracts, Biological control