Sugarcane
Pokkah Boeng
Fusarium moniliforme
Fungus
In a Nutshell
- Malformation and distortion of the top or damaged stalk.
- Appearance of chlorotic patches towards the base of young leaves.
Can also be found in
Sugarcane
Symptoms
The disease develops in three major phases. The earliest symptoms are the appearance of chlorotic patches towards the base of young leaves and occasionally on other parts of the leaf blades in the first phase. Leaves are wrinkled, twisted and shortened. The base of affected leaves is often shorter than normal leaves. The top rot phase is the most serious stage where the malformation and twisting of leaves are pronounced. Red specks are dissolved and the whole base of the spindle gets rotten and dried up. In severe infections, buds sprout and the apical parts of the stalks are seriously damaged. The third stage known as the knife cut stage shows transverse cuts in the rind of the stalk or stem. When leaves are stripped off, large conspicuous chlorotic patches are seen on stalks.
Recommendations
Organic Control
If available, use resistant or moderately resistant varieties for planting.
Chemical Control
Always consider an integrated approach along with preventive measures and available biological treatments. Apply fungicides, such as copper oxychloride to effectively reduce pokkah boeng disease.
What caused it?
Damage is caused by different species of Fusarium: Fusarium subglutinans, Fusarium sacchari, Fusarium moniliforme Sheldon. The pathogens can be spread primarily by air currents and airborne spores colonize the leaves, flowers and stems of plants through any injury by insects, borers or natural growth cracks. Secondary infection is through the infected setts, irrigation water, splashed rains and soils. Infection usually occurs through the spindle along the edge of a partially expanded leaf. The spores that enter the spindle germinate and grow into the internal tissue of the spindle leaf. This results in the deformation and shortening of the leaves. The spread of spores depends on various environmental conditions and is more pronounced in the dry season followed by the humid season. Under these conditions, leaf infections develop rapidly, and even resistant varieties show typical leaf symptoms at times. The pathogen can survive for 12 months in the plant debris under natural conditions.
Preventive Measures
- Plant using healthy setts/seed material to prevent the disease from occurring.
- Setts should be produced from crops treated with heat in moist hot air at 54°C for 2.5 hours at 99% humidity.
- Practice crop rotation in affected fields.
- Canes or setts showing ‘top rot’ or ‘knife cut’ should be rouged out from the fields as soon as they are evident.
- Remove the affected clump along with the root system and burn them.
- Harvest diseased crops as early as possible.
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