A leaf spotting and tip dieback disease of onions identified as Blast was first recorded in Barbados in early 1971. It re-appeared in 1972 and caused quite serious yield losses to some farmers. A preliminary study of this disease, in which parasites were eliminated as causal factors, indicated that the initial symptoms of blast in Barbados were not caused by incompatibilities between benlate and other crop protection chemicals, as was suggested by some observers, but were more likely incited by adverse weather conditions or by some other physiogenic agent.