Bud Rot Disease

Bud Rot Disease Latest News

Coconut growers of Tiptur taluk, Tumakuru district, Karnataka, are worried as coconut trees are increasingly affected by Bud Rot Disease causing their crowns to break and fall off.

About Bud Rot Disease

• It is a fatal disease of the coconut palm, characterized by the rotting of the terminal bud and the surrounding tissues. 
• It affects the palms of all ages, but young palms are found to be most vulnerable. 
• It is caused by the fungus Phytophthora palmivora, which attacks the growing point of the coconut palm.
  • Once the growing point is attacked, the palm is beyond recovery. 
• The incidence is found to be severe during the monsoon when the relative humidity is high. 
• With the onset of dry weather, the infection becomes less severe, and the fungus remains dormant in the leaf base. 
• The disease is often seen in river banks subject to flooding. Normally, the disease is observed sporadically in widely scattered palms. 
• Symptoms:
  • In seedlings, the earlier symptom is the yellowing of one or two younger leaves.
    • Basal tissues of the leaf rot 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 a 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.
    • The disease proves fatal if not checked at the early stages, before damage of the bud.
• Management: Because it can be fatal, management is about early detection and prompt action: cleaning out the rotted tissue, applying copper paste/fungicide (Bordeaux paste) to the wound and bud, and prophylactic crown sprays of neighbouring palms before and during the wet season.

News: DH

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