Disease management in Casuarina

Disease in Casuarina Nursery:

(Pictures and content courtesy: Dr.V.Mohan, IFGTB, Coimbatore)

Damping-off in Casuarina:

It is a most prevalent disease in Casuarina nurseries world over and highly destructive & cause heavy loss of seedlings.

Causative organisms: Pythium, Phytophthora, Fusarium and Rhizoctonia.

Causes:

(1)High soil temperature,

(2)Excessive soil moisture,

(3)High soil pH (alkaline),

(4)High nitrogen content,

(5)Low light intensity due to shading,

(6)Stiffy or clayey soil with poor drainage, dense sowing.

Major diseases in Casuarina plantations: (Subject courtesy: FCRINAIP)

The casuarina plantation are found vulnerable to various diseases viz., stem canker and die back, pink disease, root infection and die back and wilt. The stem canker and die back can be controled by the application of Bavistan at 0.01 per cent active ingredients.

Wilt disease caused by Trichosporium is a serious disease and could be managed with proper soil and water management. Severely damaged trees have to be uprooted immediately to avoid further spreading.

S.No.	Common disease	Control Measure
1.	Damping off	Providing proper drainage Seed treatment with captan or thiram @ 4g/kg. Soil drenching with carbendazim @ 0.1 %
2.	Stem canker	Spray with mancozeb @ 0.25 %
3.	Die back	Removal of infected plant parts and spray with mancozeb @ 0.25 % or copper oxy chloride @ 0.25 %.
4.	Pink disease	Removal of severely affected plant parts or Scrap the infected portions and apply with Bordeaux Paste.
5.	Wilt disease	Remove the infected trees immediately.  Digging the trenches around the infected tree. Scrap the infected portion and spray with copper oxy chloride @ 0.25 %.

The picture below illustrates Blister bark disease of Casuarina may be caused after the attack by pests or after mechanical injury.  Picture Courtesy:

To know more about disease management please visit this link: 

Ppt presentation on Management of Pests and Diseases by Dr.Balu, a 

renowned Entomologist and Dr.V.Mohan, Pathologist, Forest Protection 

Division, IFGTB, Coimbatore. Slide number 34 to 47 are primarily about 

'Disease Management' authored by Dr.V.Mohan. 

The above Ppt presentation is also uploaded in top right side of this blog  

which can be used as a ready reckoner by our readers for the control of 

Insects and diseases in almost all the crops. 

My sincere thanks to Dr.V.Mohan, IFGTB on behalf of all our readers for 

providing us with all the details and pictures.

Regards,

A.Vishnu Sankar