Symptom

• Young fruits and male inflorescences are badly attacked by the fungus and only a small percentage of the fruits reach maturity.
• Female inflorescence and matured fruits are not usually attacked.
• The disease is a soft rot. A large number of the affected fruits fan off early. In the first stage of attack ·the fungus appears as greyish growth with abundant mycelia which gradually becomes denser forming a black growth.
• The fungus gradually advances until the whole fruit or the entire inflorescence rots and falls off.

Management

• Spray young fruits with Mancozeb 0.25% or Copper oxychloride 0.25 per cent at an interval of three weeks during the months of January, February and March.