Sugarcane Eye Spot
Symptoms
- Symptoms are minute water-soaked spots that usually occur on young leaves
- Typical mature eyespot symptoms are characterized by a reddish-brown elliptical lesion (0.5–4.0 mm long, 0.5–2.0 mm wide) with yellowish-brown margins.
- Reddish-brown to yellowish-brown streaks, sometimes called "runners," extend upward from individual lesions toward the leaf tip.
- These streaks are 3–6 mm wide and 30–90 cm long. Multiple lesions can be extensive.
- The runners occur only in cooler temperatures and are not present in hotter temperatures. The runners are the results of tissue damage caused by a toxin produced by the pathogen.
Management
- The only practical and efficient method for controlling eye spot disease is the use of resistant sugarcane clones.
- Resistant clones can be grown without losses, even in environments that favor eye spot disease.
- Chemical control using foliar fungicides is not practical.