Sugarcane Wilt...

Symptoms

• The first symptom of the disease is visible in the canes of 4-5 month age.
• The canes may wither in groups.
• The affected plants are stunted with yellowing and withering of crown leaves.
• The midribs of all leaves in a crown generally turn yellow, while the leaf lamina may remain green.
• The leaves dry up and stem develop hollowness in the core.
• The core shows the reddish discolouration with longitudinal red streaks passing from one internode to another.
• In severe cases, spindle shaped cavities tapering towards the nodes develop in each internode.
• The canes emit a disagreeable odour, with lot of mycelial threads of the fungus cover the cavity.

Management

• Select the seed material from the disease-free plots
• Avoid the practice of ratooning in diseased fields.
• Burn the trashes and stubbles in the field.
• Grow coriander or mustard as a companion crop in the early stages of crop.
• Dip the setts in 40ppm Boran or Manganese for 10 minutes or in 0.25% Emisan or 0.05% Carbendazim for 15 minutes.