MODULE-1

• Diseases are the most difficult type of plant injury to diagnose and manage.
A plant disease is any conditionthat does not allow the plant to function
normally.
• Noninfectious plant diseases are caused by nonliving agents or cultural and
environmental factors such as drought, soil compaction, hail, wind, toxic
chemicals,nutrient deficiency, and temperature or moisture extremes.
• Noninfectious disease cannot reproduce and spread from plant to plant.
• Symptoms such as wilting, stunting, and yellowing ofleaves may appear
suddenly on a plant with a non-infectious disease. Few noninfectious
diseases can be corrected or avoided, and often the symptoms resemble
those of infectious diseases
MODULE-2
DISEASES OF COCONUT
FUNGAL DISEASES
• BUD ROT: Phytophthora palmivora
• Symptom:
• Palms of all age susceptible, but normally young palms are more susceptible, particularly during
monsoon.
• In seedlings, the earlier symptom is the yellowing of one or two younger leaves. Basal tissues of
the leaf rots quickly and can be easily pulled out from the crown.
• In the later stages the spindle withers and drops down.
• The tender leaf base and soft tissues of the crown rot into a slimy mass of decayed material
emitting foul smell.
• Ultimately the entire crown falls down and the palm dies
• In adult palms, the first visible symptom is the colour change of the spear, which becomes pale
and breaks at the base and hangs down. The rotting slowly progresses downwards, finally
affecting the meristem and killing the palms. This is accompanied by drooping of successive
leaves. Even then, nuts that are retained on the palm may grow to maturity.
PALE LEAF LEAF ROT
MANAGEMENT
• Cultural method
• Provide adequate drainage in gardens.
• Adopt proper spacing and avoid over crowding in bud rot prone gardens.
• Chemical method
• Remove all the affected tissue of the crown region and drenching the crown
with Copper oxychloride 0.25%. Apply Bordeaux paste and protect it from rain
till normal shoot emerges. (Dissolve 100 gm of copper sulphate and 100 gm of
quick lime each in 500ml. water separately and mix to form 1 litre of Bordeaux
paste).
• Spray 0.25% Copper oxychloride or 1 % Bordeaux mixture on the crown of the
neighbouring palms as a prophylactic measure before the onset of monsoon
STEM BLEEDING DISEASE: Thielaviopsis paradoxa

• Symptom
• The progress of the disease is faster during July to November.
• Stem Bleeding is characterized by the exudation of a dark reddish brown liquid from the
longitudinal cracks in the bark and wounds on the stem trickling down for a distance of
several inches to several feet.
• The lesions spread upwards as the disease progresses.
• The liquid oozing out dries up and turns black. The tissues below the lesions become rotten
and turn yellow first and later black.
• In advanced cases, the inner portions of affected trunks are hollow due to decay of inner
tissues.
• As a result of extensive damage in the stem tissue, the outer whorl of the leaves turn
yellow, dry and shed prematurely. The production of bunches is affected adversely. Nut fall
is also noticed.
• Management:
• Cultural Method:
• Destroy the chiseled materials by burning. Avoid any mechanical injury to trunk.
• Along with 50kg FYM, apply 5kg neem cake containing the antagonistic fungi, Trichoderma @
200g/palm/year culture to the basin during September.
• Provide adequate irrigation during summer and drainage during rainy season along with
recommended fertilizer.
• Chemical Method:
• Chisel out completely the affected tissues and paint the wound with tridemorph 5% or
Bordeaux paste. Apply coal tar after 1-2 days on the treated portion. Burn off chiseled pieces.
• Root feed with Tridemorph 5ml in 100 ml water, thrice a year during April-May, September-
October and January-February to prevent further spread of lesions
ROOT WILT (OR) KERALA WILT DISEASE: Phytoplasma

• Insect vectors, primarily leafhoppers, planthoppers, and psyllids-carriers of phytoplasma

• SYMPTOM
• Tapering of terminal portion of the trunk.
• Reduction of leaf size
• Abnormal bending or Ribbing of leaf lets termed as flaccidity.
• Flowering is delayed and also yield is considerably reduced.
• The characteristic symptom is the flaccidity of leaflets. This is the earliest visual symptom.
In the beginning yellowing is restricted from the leaf tips to the middle of the leaves,
necrosis of leaflets and deterioration and decay of root system are other salient features
of the disease. The leaflets curve inwardly to produce ribbing so that the whole frond
develops a cup like appearance. Abnormal shedding of buttons and immature nuts are
also noticed.
Management

• Cultural Method:
• Cut and remove disease advanced, uneconomical palms yielding less
than 10 nuts per palm per year
• Grow green manure crops - cowpea, sunhemp (Crotalaria juncea),
Mimosa invisa, Calapagonium mucanoides, Pueraria phaseoloides etc.
may be sown in coconut basins during April-May and incorporated
during September-October.
• Irrigate coconut palms with at least 250 litre water in a week.
• Adopt suitable inter/mixed cropping in coconut gardens.
• Provide adequate drainage facilities.
• Biological method:
• apply 50 kg FYM or green manure and 5 kg of neem cake / palm / year.
• Growing green manure crops like sunn hemp, sesbania, cowpea and calapagonium in the coconut
basin and their incorporation in situ is beneficial as the practice reduces the intensity of the root
(wilt) and increases the nut yield. The ideal green manure crops for the sandy and alluvial soils are
cowpea and sesbania, respectively.
• Chemical Method:
• Apply fertilizers for coconut palms in average management at the rate of 1.3 kg urea, 2.00 kg
super phosphate and 3.5 kg potash (MOP) / palm / year in the form of urea, rock phosphate and
muriate of potash, respectively.
• Magnesium may be supplied @ 500 g MgO per palm per year
• To manage the insect vectors, treat the top tow leaf axils with insecticide preparation. This can be
prepared by mixing phorate 10 G with 200 g sand or powdered neem cake 250 g. M
DISEASES OF RUBBER
Abnormal leaf fall
• Phytophthora palmivora
• Symptoms:
• It occurs during June – August, while general leaf fall occurs during December.
• On leaves dull grey, circular spots appear which enlarge and become irregular.
• The petiole exhibit sunken spot. Affected fruits rot. Leaves shed prematurely
either green or after turning coppery red.
• The affected leaf form a thick carpet of rotting foliage which emits bad smell.
• Management:
• Prophylactic sprays prior to onset of south west monsoon with Bordeaux
mixture 1%. Addition of ZnSo4 @ 0.2% improves the efficacy.
Powdery mildew: Oidium heveae
• Symptoms:
• White powdery fungal growth appears on young leaves and also on matured
leaves.
• Infected leaves curl, crinkle, role inwards and fall off leaving the petiole attached
to the tree giving a broom stick appearance.
• The infected flowers and tender fruits shed.
• Management:
• Spary sulphur 3-5 times at 15 days interval.
• Carbendazim 0.1% or Tridemorph 1.5% dusting alternated with sulphur dust 70%
• Carbendazim +wettable sulphur and microsul (52% EC) is also effective.
Pink disease: Corticium salminicolor
• Symptoms:
• Prevalent in wet areas. Young twigs and branches are mostly affected.
• The fungal growth encircles the stem, penetrates the bark and cortical
tissues which eventually decay.
• The bark splits and peals off. If the infection in not recognized early the tree
dies after the rainy season.
• Management:
• Affected parts should be pasted with Bordeaux paste or painting tar.
• Copper fungicides should not be used in rubber because they will
contaminate the latex.
Colletotrichum Leaf Disease: C .gloeosporioides

• Symptoms:
• Infects tender leaves, mostly at the leaf tip region.
• Spots are small, brown in colour and is sorrounded by an yellow hallo.
• Numerous spots coalesce and dry up leading to defoliation.
• The infected leaves often crinkle and become distorted before shedding.
• Management:
• Spraying with Bordeaux mixture 1%, copper oxychloride 0.125% (Fytdan
2.5 g/l) mancozeb 0.2% (Dithane/ Indofil M 45 2.66 g/l) or carbendazim
0.05% (Bavastin 1 g/l) at 10 - 15 days intervals is effective.
DISEASES OF TEA
• Blister blight: Exobasidium vexans
• Symptoms
• Small, pinhole-size spots are initially seen on young leaves less than a month old.
• As the leaves develop, the spots become transparent, larger, and light brown.
• After about 7 days, the lower leaf surface develops blister-like symptoms, with
dark green, water-soaked zones surrounding the blisters.
• Following release of the fungal spores, the blister becomes white and velvety.
• Subsequently the blister turns brown, and young infected stems become bent
and distorted and may break off or die
• Management
• Removal of affected leaves and shoots by pruning and destruction of
the same have been recommended.
• Spraying of Bordeaux mixture or Copper Oxy Chloride 0.1%
• A mixture of 210g of Copper oxy Chloride + 210g of nickel chloride per
ha sprayed at 5 days interval from June to September and October to
November
• Spray Tridemorph at 340 and 560 ml/ha is satisfactory under mild and
moderate rainfall conditions
GREY BLIGHT
• Brown blight, grey blight: Colletotrichum sp., Pestalotiopsis sp.
• Symptoms
• Small, oval, pale yellow-green spots first appear on young leaves.
• Often the spots are surrounded by a narrow, yellow zone.
• As the spots grow and turn brown or gray, concentric rings with
scattered, tiny black dots become visible and eventually the dried
tissue falls, leading to defoliation.
• Leaves of any age can be affected
• Management

• Avoid plant stress.

• Grow tea bushes with adequate spacing to permit air to circulate and
reduce humidity and the duration of leaf wetness.
• Spray Copper Oxy Chloride or Bordeaux mixture 0.1% during winter
season and Summer season
THREAD BLIGHT OF TEA
• Black blight or thread blight
• Causal organisms: Corticium koleroga, C. invisum syn. Pellicularia
koleroga
• (Basidiomycotina, Hymenomycetes, Aphyllophorales, Corticiaceae)
• Symptoms:
• Leaves and twigs turn brown. Dead leaves are hanging on thin threads
from the branches.
• Management
• 1. Spraying of Carbendazim, Mancozeb, or Thiophanate methyl.
• 2. Avoid plant stress. Grow tea bushes with adequate spacing to
permit air to circulate and reduce humidity and the duration of leaf
wetness
MODULE 3
• Phytophthora foot rot / quick wilt – Phytopthora capsici.
• Symptoms:
• a. Die back:
• The aerial branches get infected at any point. At the site of infection
of branch, the discoloration occurs and rotting progress upwards and
downwards resulting in die-back symptoms.
• The lateral branches of the affected vines break off at the nodes and
fall off.
• b. Foot rot or Collar rot:
• The stem near the ground level get infected and the rotting and death
of vine occurs within 2-3 weeks.
• The affected portion emits bad odour. The necrosis progress down
wards to the underground stem and to the root system.
• c. Root rot:
• The infection starts at main root or at feeder root. The leaves become
yellow and defoliate.
• Management:
• Selection of healthy nursery material.
• Provide good drainage.
• Soil drenching with 1% Bordeaux mixture after removal of the
affected plant.
• Spraying with 1% Bordeaux mixture (or) COC 0.25% (or) Alitte 0.3%
• Soil application of neem cake and Trichoderma viride or P. fluorescens
 ROOT ROT
DIEBACK COLLAR ROT
Slow decline / slow wilt
• Causal agent:Fusarium, Rhizoctonia and Diplodia along with nematode
infection.
• Symptoms
• General yellowing of lower leaves which progress upwards.
• The affected leaves become flaccid and fall off.
• Tip burn of leaves and die-back of twigs appear. Root knot, can be seen in the
vine showing the yellowing of leaves. The affected vines gradually die.
• Vascular browning can be seen.
• Management:
• Soil drenching with Copper oxychloride in May– June and September– October.
Anthracnose / Pollu disease
• Causal agent Gloeosporium gloeosporioides
• Symptoms:
• Symptoms appear in leaves and stems. Circular or irregular grey spots
appear in the leaves.
• Concentric rings of acervuli appear on upper surface of the leaves. On the
stem the infection appear at the tips spreads downwards and kill the
entire vine.
• When infections occur in leaf axils the spikes become affected and fall off.
• Berry becomes brown in colour and extends downwards from upper
portion.
Soft rot or rhizome rot
• Pythium aphanidermatum/ P. vexans / P. myriotylum
• Symptoms
• The infection starts at the collar region of the pseudostems and progresses upwards
as well as downwards. The collar region of the affected pseudostem becomes water
soaked and the rotting spreads to the rhizome resulting in soft rot.
• At a later stage root infection is also noticed.
• Foliar symptoms appear as light yellowing of the tips of lower leaves which gradually
spreads to the leaf blades
• In early stages of the disease, the middle portion of the leaves remain green while
the margins become yellow.
• The yellowing spreads to all leaves of the plant from the lower region upwards and is
followed by drooping, withering and drying of pseudostem.
• Management
• Treatment of seed rhizomes with mancozeb 0.3% for 30 minutes before
storage and once again before planting reduces the incidence of the disease.
• Cultural practices such as selection of well drained soils for planting is
important for managing the disease, since stagnation of water predisposes
the plant to infection.
• Seed rhizomes are to be selected from disease free gardens, since the
disease is also seed borne.
• Once the disease is located in the field, removal of affected clumps and
drenching the affected and surrounding beds with mancozeb 0.3% checks
the spread of the disease.
Bacterial wilt
• Ralstonia solanacearum
• Symptoms
• Water soaked spots appear at the collar region of the pseudostem and progresses
upwards and downwards.
• The first conspicuous symptom is mild drooping and curling of leaf margins of the
lower leaves which spreads upwards
• Yellowing starts from the lowermost leaves and gradually progresses to the upper
leaves. In the advanced stage, the plants exhibit severe yellowing and wilting
symptoms.
• The vascular tissues of the affected pseudostems show dark streaks. The affected
pseudostem and rhizome when pressed gently extrudes milky ooze from the
vascular strands.
yellowing of leaves infected leaf
• Management
• The cultural practices adopted for managing soft rot are also to be
adopted for bacterial wilt.
• The seed rhizomes may be treated with streptocycline 200ppm for 30
minutes and shade dried before planting.
• Once the disease is noticed in the field all beds should be drenched
with Bordeaux mixture 1% or copper oxychloride 0.2%.
• Survival and spread
• Bacterial wilt is a soil and seed borne disease that occurs during south west
monsoon.
• The bacteria are spread through soil, water, infected or contaminated
rhizomes.
• The bacteria enter the plant through wounds made in the roots during
transplanting, through agricultural equipment’s, nematodes and insects.
• Favourable conditions
• Relatively high soil moisture and soil temperature
• Disease, occurs during south west monsoon.
Leaf spot
• Phyllosticta zingiberi
• Symptoms
• The disease starts as water soaked spot and later turns as a white spot
surrounded by dark brown margins and yellow halo. The lesions enlarge and
adjacent lesions coalesce to form necrotic areas.
• The disease spreads through rain splashes during intermittent showers.
• The incidence of the disease is severe in ginger grown under exposed
conditions.
• Management
• The disease can be controlled by spraying Copper oxychloride 0.25 % or
Mancozeb 0.2%
Damping off / rhizome rot / clamp
rot
• Pythium vexans, Fusarium oxysporum, Rhizoctonia solani,
Phytophthora
• Symptoms
• Infected leaves become pale, yellow and ultimately the young leaves
die.
• Older leaves die prematurely and new shoots that arise are weak,
decay and the rhizomes rot at the base of the stem.
• The diseased shoot can be pulled out easily.
• Management
• Destruction of diseased clumps.
• Providing proper drainage
• Changing the nursery site
• Drenching the nursery beds with Copper oxychloride 0.25% or
Bordeaux mixture 0.5%, before 15 days of sowing.
• Soil drenching with B.M 1% (or) PCNB 1.0%
Azhukal disease / capsule rot / fruit
rot
• Phytophthora parasitica car. nicotianae/ Phytophthora palmivora
• Symptoms
• Symptoms can appear on tender and matured leaves. Large circular, irregular, water
soaked spots with black colour appear on leaves.
• The exposed portion of the unopened leaves my rot.
• Grey patches of irregular spots with brown margin are formed at the base of the
leaf sheath.
• The basal portion rots and the pseudo stem break away at the collar region.
• The infection spreads to the underground plants and the rhizomes become rots.
• Small light brown lesions appear in the green tender fruits which fall of in 3-6 days
leaving the small fruit stalk. The tip of inflorescence also rot.
• Management
• Removal and burning of infected plants.
• Avoid moving of rhizomes from diseased areas to healthy area for
planting
• Provide proper drainage
• Three sprays with Bordeaux mixture 1% in May, June, July
• Soil drench with Bordeaux mixture 1 % (or) Copper oxychloride 0.25%
VIRAL DISEASE-KATTE DISEASE
• Cardamom mosaic virus (CDMV)
• Symptoms
• General chlorosis of young leaves – parallel streaks of pale green
tissues running along the veins from midrib to the margins.
• Leaf sheath also shows stitch stripes.
• In advanced stage the whole plant shows mosaic symptom.
• Rhizome shrivels and plants dies. If young clumps are attached they
die before flowering.
• Vector: Pentalonia nigronervosa
• Management
• Collection and removal of infected clumps along with rhizomes and
burning.
• Raising of nursery in diseases free areas.
• Spray with dimethoate (or) Methyl dematan (or) Phosphomidon to kill
the vector.
Chenthal disease / leaf blight
• Colletotrichum gloeosporioides
• Symptom
• Elongated, water soaked lesions of varying size appear on the upper
surface of the leaf.
• The spots becomes brown to dark with pale yellow hole. Leaves wither
and pseudo stem wilts.
• New shoots which develop are reduced in size. Flowers fail to develop.
• The inflorescence dry up stating from tip downwards. The affected
garden shows burnt appearance.
• Management
• Removal and destruction of affected leaves
• Three sprays with carbendazim 0.1% (or) Mancozab 0.2% (or) copper
oxychloride 0.25% at 30 days interval.
MODULE-4