Agriculture
Crop Production :: Oil Seeds :: Groundnut

 

Stem rot: Sclerotium rolfsii

Symptoms:

  • Sudden drying of branch completely or partially
  • Leaves turn brown and dry but remain in the plant
  • White mycelium over the soil around stem
  • Mustard like sclerotia on infected part
Stem rot

Pathogen:

It is a necrotrophic and soilborne pathogen

Small tufts of white mycelium that form brown mustard like sclerotia

Pathogen

Favourable Conditions:

  • Soil moisture: 40-50% water holding capacity
  • Temperature: 29-32ºC during day and 25ºC during night

Mode of Spread and Survival:

  • Pathogen has wide host range
  • Sclerotia remain viable for years in soil
  • Disease spreads through infected soil and sclerotia

Management:

  • Deep ploughing to bury surface litter
  • Cultivation of groundnut in flat or raised beds
  • Seed treatment with Trichoderma viride @ 4 g/kg seeds and soil application of T. viride @ 2.5 kg/ha with 500 kg FYM
  • Soil drenching with carbendazim 50 WP @ 1 g/litre
Updated on May 2023