Agricultural crops :: Cereals :: Maize
Charcoal rot: Macrophomina phaseolina |
Symptoms:
- Plants exhibit wilting symptoms
- Plants mature, the fungus spreads into the lower internodes of the stalk
- Causing premature ripening, shredding and breaking at the crown region
- Stalk of infected plants are with greyish streak
- The pith becomes shredded and greyish black minute sclerotia develop on the vascular bundles
- Shredding of the interior of the stalk often causes stalks to break at crown
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| Shredding of Stalk |
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Pathogen
- Fungus produces round or globular to irregular and black sclerotia
- Pycnidia appear on the stalks. Pycndiospores are colourless, oval and single celled
Favourable Conditions
- Dry and hot weather during and after flowering favours the disease.
- Soil temperature 30 - 42°C, low soil moisture and low soil pH (5.4 - 6.0) .
Survival and Mode of Spread
- Primary spread – Sclerotia in infected crop and debris in soil.
- Secondary spread – Wind-borne pycnidiospores.
Management
- Follow crop rotation
- Avoidance of water stress at flowering time reduced disease incidence
- Avoid nutrient stress.
- Apply potash @ 80 kg/ha in endemic areas
- Soil application of P. fluorescens (or) T. viride @ 2.5 kg / ha + 50 kg of well decomposed FYM (mix 10 days before application) or sand at 30 days after sowing
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