Efforts to Develop Disease-Resistant Areca Palms Moves Ahead

The Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI) has gathered inflorescence from disease-resistant areca nut palms in order to develop tissue-cultured disease-resistant plants as part of its ongoing effort to establish an areca nut plant variety resistant to Yellow Leaf Disease.

On Friday, inflorescence was collected from three palms in the Lainkaje Prabhakara and Madhava Nadubetta areca nut plantations. CPCRI at Kasaragod, Kerala, plans to reproduce these palms by tissue-culture procedures and inter-crossing between two disease-free palms. It is the project's initial stage.

The inflorescence was gathered by Senior Technical Assistant Muralikrishna and his colleagues, who then took them to the CPCRI laboratory in Kasaragod, he said.

CPCRI gathers inflorescence from three species of palm cultivation in the villages of Sampaje and Chembu. CPCRI scientist Bhavishya found disease-resistant palms for sampling in the Sampaje and Chembu locations last month.

After that, samples from five of these palms were transferred to the institute's Kayamkulam laboratory to make sure they weren't infected. According to the general secretary, inflorescence was collected from three of five such palms.

About Yellow Leaf Disease:

Yellow Leaf Disease initially appeared in areca nut crops in Kerala in 1914. All these years, it was mostly spotted in the Dakshina Kannada district's Sullia region, as well as the Chikkamagaluru district's Koppa and Sringeri regions.

Arecanut leaves appear yellow when infected with this illness, according to CPCRI, which is caused by the bacteria phytoplasma. The kernels of infected palm nuts become mushy, with a blackish discoloration and a spongy texture. Proutista moesta, a plant-hopper insect, spreads the disease.

Farmers remove diseased plants from their plantations because standard measures are unable to control the illness. The disease affects areca palms of all ages, causing the plant's yield to drop.

The disease is now moving from traditional to non-traditional places, as per the expert’s opinion.