WILT ANTHRACNOSE

CAUSAL exact cause for Wilt is not determined yet but • Gloesporium psidii
PATHOGEN maior fungus causing the disease- • Colletotrichum psidii
Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. psidii
Others- other species of Fusarium, Rhizoctonia sp
ETIOLOGY Disease cycle- Primary infection- through infected foliage, fruits,
Fungus survives in soil and plant debris or debris

Primary infection occurs by spores in soil Symptoms

Symptoms Secondary infection- airborne conidia or through rain

splashes

Secondary spread through water and irrigation Fungus survives in plant debris
EPIDEMIOLOG Favorable Conditions: FAVOURABLE CONDITIONS
Y High rainfall during August/ September. • Closer planting without canopy management
• Stagnation Of water in guava field for long • The acervulli with pink spore mass are produced in
duration. moist weather on diseased Twigs and mummified
• Maximum and minimum temperature With RH fruits
are conducive. • Dew and rain encourage spore production
• Lack of timely application of suitable control • Temperature between IOOC to 35T with best 240C
measures. to 280C
• Alkaline soils with pH ranging from 7.5 to 9 • The disease appears in epidemic form, during
and laterite soils at pH 6.5 increases August to September. It is also noticed in December
the severity Of wilt. after which the older leaves and twigs remain
• Disease is more in clay loam and sandy loam immune from attack
compared to heavy soil. SURVIVAL- can survive on Infected plant debris and
• The presence Of nematode, Helicotylenchus is very easily spread.
dihystera MODE OF DISPERSAL
Survival and Spread >PRIMARY SPREAD: Air borne spores develops on
Through movement Of plants containing sick soil in dead leaves, twigs and mummified fruits
virgin areas. >SECONDARY SPREAD: Infected plant materials
Short distance spread is by water.
Root injury predisposes wilt disease.
The fungus survives in soil and plant debris
SYMPTOMS The symptoms are divided into two phases
1. Die back phase
2. Fruit And Leaf Infection Phase
DIE BACK PHASE-
• The plant begins to die backwards form the top
Of a branch.
• Young shoots, leaves and fruits are readily
attached, while they are still tender.
• The greenish colour of the growing tip is changed
to dark brown and later to black necrotic areas
extending backwards.
• The finer roots show black streaks which become
• The fungus develops from the infected twigs and
prominent on
then petiole and young leaves which may drop
removing the bark. The roots also show rotting at
down or fall leaving the dried twigs without
the basal region and
leaves.
the bark is easily detachable from the cortex.
2. Fruit And Leaf Infection Phase
 • The cortical regions of the stem and root show
distinct discolouration
and damage.
• Light brown discoloration is noticed in vascular
bundles. Bark splitting
can be seen in wilted plants in later stages.
• The disease can be catagorized into slow wilt and
sudden wilt. In slow
wilt, plant takes several months or even a year, to
wilt after the
appearance of initial symptoms and in sudden wilt,
infected plant wilts
in 15 days to one month.
MANAGEMEN • Cultural:
T • Proper sanitation of orchard
• Wilted plants should be uprooted, burnt and a
trench (1.0-1.5m) should be dug around the
tree trunk. Treat the pits with formalin and
cover the pit for three days and then transplant
the seedlings after two weeks.
• While transplanting seedlimgs avoid damage to
the roots.
• Maintain proper tree vigour by timely
manuring, interculture and irrigation
• Intercropping with turmeric or marigold.
• Soil solarization with transparent polythene
sheets during summer months
• application Of Oil cakes like neem cake. mahua
cake. kusum cake supplemented with urea.
• Apply 6kg neem cake
• 2kg gypsum per plant.
• Judicous amendments of N and Zn.
• Host Plant Resistance:
• Resistant variety: Apple guava
• Guava species, Psidium cattleianum var.
lucidum are resistant to wilt.
• Psidium cattleianum (P. moue),Chinese guava
and Phillippine guava are recommended as
resistant root stocks
• Biological:
• Aspergillus niger strain AN 17, Trichoderma
viride, Trichoderma harzianum and Penicillium
citrinum can used as biocontrol agents
• Chemical:
• Stem injection with 0.1% water soluble 8-
Quinolinol sulphate
• Drench with 0.2% Benomyl or Carbendazim, four
times in a year and
•
• Fruit and leaf infection is generally seen during
rainy season crop. Pink-head spots are first seen
on unripe fruits, which gradually enlarge.
• Spots are dark brown in colour, Sunken, circular
and have minute black stromata in the center of
the lesion, which produce creamy spore masses in
moist weather.
• spots coalesce to form bigger lesions infected area
on unripe fruits become corky and hardy and often
develops Cracks incase of severe infection.
• Unopened buds and flowers are affected which
cause their shedding.
• On leaves the fungus causes necrotic lesions
usually ashy grey and bear fruiting bodies at the
tip or on the margin .
Cultural
• Well-managed trees escape the attack of the
disease.
• Growing of moderately tolerant variety likes
'Apple'.
Mechanical
• Pruning of diseased twigs and burning of fallen
leaves and fruits.
Biological
Application of Streptosporangium pseudovulgare on
fruits before emergence the symptom.
Chemical
• Spraying with Copper oxy chloride 50 % WP @ 4
gm/ lit or Captan 75 % WS @ 2.5 gm/lit
or
Copper oxychloride 50 0/0 WP @ 4 gm/lit or
Mancozeb 75 % WP @ 2.5 gm/litre of water.
WILT
• spray twice with Metasystox and Zinc
sulphate.
• Disinfestation of soil with Metam-sodium at
252 ml/10m2 area to control
• nematodes.