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Fusarium wilt
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A.M. Varela & A.A.Seif, icipe
Is this a Minor Pest?
Yes
Minor Pest Title
Fusarium wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. batatas)
Minor Pest Description
It is caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. batatas. Initial symptoms on sweet potato are yellowing of the leaves. Leaves later wilt and fall off, stunting results and eventually death of the plant. Death of the stem vascular bundles occurs with brown to purple coloured when split; this may be accompanied by cracking of the stem. The vines may turn tan to light brown. Diseased plants may manage to produce storage roots, but these usually have some discoloured, infected vascular tissues. Rot may follow in storage or the disease may be transmitted to the next crop by infected cuttings. Dying vines often have pinkish fungal growth.
Minor Pest What to do.
- Use resistant varieties, if available.
- Use disease-free planting stocks.
- Avoid fields with a history of wilt.
- To reduce infection near transplanting time is to hold transplants for 24 hours at 290C to promote suberisation of the injured surface, also yield loss can be reduced by planting more than one transplant per hill. Even though the percent of plants affected is not reduced, yield per unit land is maintained because there is less chance that all plants in a hill will be killed and also because productivity is similar for single-plant and multiple-plant hill.
Minor Pest Position
3
Minor Pest Firstcontent
126
Pest Type
fungal
Host Plants
Sweet potato
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