Symptoms

• This is a commonly occurring disease on foliage of beet roots. High humidity usually favours the spread of this disease.
• Numerous small circular spots appear on the leaf surface. The spots increase in size, becoming brownish or purplish in color.
• Individual spots are usually circular but several may coalesce into larger areas of dead tissue.
• The spots dry up giving a shot-hole appearance to the leaves. In case of severe infection spots cover the entire leaf surface resulting in pre-mature death and dropping of the leaves.
• As leaves die, the crown becomes cone-shaped with a rosette of dead leaves at the base.
• Defoliation occurs throughout the growing season resulting in reduction in root size and yield. Older leaves are mostly affected.

Management

• Removal and destruction of affected plants and practicing crop rotation are beneficial in controlling the disease.
• Spraying with Copper oxychloride (0.3 %) thrice at an interval of 15 days controls the disease effectively.