• Hot weather disease.
• Mature plants are attacked just below the soil surface and are completely girdled.
• The tops wilt and die rapidly.
• Mycelium often grows over the diseased tissue and surrounding soil forming a white mat of mycelial threads with the typical tan-to brown, at the crown mustard-seed-sized sclerotia.
• Often the entire root system is destroyed.

Identification of pathogen:

Fungus:

• Fungus is exceedingly destructive on ground crops and attacks the fruit where they contact the soil.
• Slightly sunken, yellow spots develop on invaded fruit, which rapidly decay, collapse, and become covered by a white fungal mass with numerous sclerotia.
• Pathogen spread
• Soil borne, machinery or water-moved infested soil, survives on numerous weed and crop hosts

Favourable condition:

• Wet periods of high temperatures (85-95 °F)

Spread and survival:

• Fungus is exceedingly destructive on ground crops and attacks the fruit where they contact the soil.
• Slightly sunken, yellow spots develop on invaded fruit, which rapidly decay, collapse, and become covered by a white fungal mass with numerous sclerotia.
• Soil borne, machinery or water-moved infested soil, survives on numerous weed and crop hosts

Management:

• Crop rotations of two years or more to a non-host crop like corn or small grains will help to prevent build-up of inoculum and disease problems
• Close plant spacing and over-irrigation promote disease development and should be avoided
  

Content validator:
Dr. M. Deivamani, Assistant Professor, Horticulture Research Station, Yercaud-636602.