Farm Tips: Remedy for coconut fungal disease during Rainy Season

During the rainy season, coconuts are prone to a lot of diseases including Bud Rot, Leaf Blight and Kerala Wilt Diseases.

Symptoms:

•  Initial symptoms include withering, yellowing and drooping of outer whorl of leaves
• The earlier symptom is the yellowing of one or two younger leaves.
• Black spots appear on spindle leaves.
• Basal tissues of the leaf rot quickly and can be easily separated from the crown.
• The infection spreads to the older leaves, causing sunken leaf spots covering the entire leaf blade.
• The root (wilt) affected coconut are susceptible to diseases such as leaf rot and pests such as rhinoceros beetle and red palm weevil.
• Internal tissue of lower stem gets discoloured.

These are some common symptoms for all the above-mentioned diseases.

Remedies

Spacing trees widely limits the chance of infection through root grafts; avoid damaging tree trunks with tools and machinery; remove any dead or severely damaged trees from plantation immediately, including any that have been killed by natural processes; if a site is known to be infected with the disease, the ground should be fallowed for at least 1 year prior to a new plantation being established. Farmers can even uproot and burn the infected tree and then the area can only be replanted once the soil is treated for the disease