PAT-302

DISEASES OF FIELD &

HORTICULTURAL CROPS AND
THEIR MANAGEMENT-II
Diseases of potato
(fungal diseases)

Submitted by,
P.Ponnarasan,
2017038020
 Major fungal diseases of potato
 early blight,
 late blight,
 black scurf,
 fusarial wilt/dry rot,
 wart,
 powdery scab,
 charcoal rot
 Early blight: ALTERNARIA solani
Symptoms:
1. It is present in both hills & plains.

2. Brown-black necrotic spot-angular, oval shape characterized by

concentric rings.
3. Several spot coalesce & spread all over the leaf.

4. Shot holes on fruits.

 Mode of spread and survival
1. The conidia and the mycelium in the soil or in the debris of the affected
plants can remain viable for more than 17 months.
2. These conidia or the new conidia found on the overwintered mycelium
bring about the primary infection of the succeeding potato crop.
3. Secondary infection is more important in the spread of the disease.
4. The conidia formed on the spots developed due to primary infection are
disseminated by wind to long distances.
5. The conidia from the affected plant may also be disseminated to the
adjoining plants by rain and insects.
Epidemiology:
1. Dry warm weather with intermittent rain.
2. Poor vigor.
3. Temperature: 25-30°C.
4. Poorly manured crop.
Management:
1. Disease free seed tubers should be used for planting.
2. Removal and destruction of infected plant debris should be done because the spores
lying in the soil are the primary source of infection.
3. Very early spraying with Zineb or captan 0.2% and repeating it for every 15 – 20 days
gives effective control.
4. The variety Kufri Sindhuri possesses a fair degree of resistance.
 Late blight of potato: Phytopthora infestans
Symptoms:
1. It affects leaves, stems and tubers.
2. Water soaked spots appear on leaves, increase in size, turn purple brown&
finally black colourWhite growth develops on under surface of leaves.
3. This spreads to petioles, rachis& stems.It frequently develops at nodes.
4. Stem breaks at these points and the plant topples over.
5. In tubers, purplish brown spots and spread to the entire surface on cutting,
the affected tuber show rusty brown necrosis spreading from surface to the
center.
Mode of spread and survival:
1. The infected tubers and the infected soil may serve as a source
of primary infection.
2. The diseased tubers are mainly responsible for persistence of
the disease from crop to crop.The air borne infection is caused
by the sporangia.
Epidemiology:
3. RH->90% ,
4. Temp.-10-25°C and Night temperature:10°C.
5. Cloudness before rainfall and Rainfall at least 0.1mm and
subsequent days after rainfall.
 Management
1. Protective spraying with mancozeb or zineb 0.2 % should be
done to prevent infection of tubers.
2. Tuber contamination is minimized if injuries are avoided at
harvest time and storing of visibly infected tubers before storage.
3. The resistant varities recommended for cultivation are Kufri
Naveen, Kufri Jeevan, Kufri Alenkar, Kufri Khasi Garo and Kufri
Moti.
4. Destruction of the foliage few days before harvest is beneficial
and this is accomplished by spraying with suitable herbicide.
 Black scurf: Rhizoctonia solani
Symptom
1. Black speck, black speck scab, russet scab on tubers.
2. At the time of sprouting dark brown colour appear on the eyes.Affected Xylem
tissue causes to wilting of plants.
3. Infected tuber contains russeting of the skin.Hard dry rot with browning on
internal tissue.
4. Seed tubers are source of spread.
5. Moderately cool, wet weather and temp 23 °C are the favourable for the
development of disease.
Mode of spread and survival:
1. The sclerotia on the seed tubers is the principal source of infection of the subsequent crop
raised with these tubers.O
2. n return of favourable conditions the mycelium present in the soil may develop producing
new hypae
Management:
1. Disease free seed tubers alone should be planted.
2. If there is a slight infection of black scurf that can be controlled by treating seed tubers
with mercuric chloride solution for 1.5 hr with acidulated mercuric chloride solution for
5 min.
3. Treating the soil with pentachloroni trobenzene at the rate of 70 kg/ ha lowers the
incidence of the disease, but it is too expensive and cumbersome.
4. Well sporulated tubrs may be planted shallow to control disease.
5. The disease severity is reduced in the land is left fallow for 2 years.
 Fusarium Wilt/dry rot
Fusarium solani f. sp. eumartii
Symptoms:
 Fusarium wilt symptoms resemble those of Verticillium wilt. Lower leaves
of infected plants turn yellow and wilt.
 Leaf tissue between veins turns yellow then brown. Wilting and yellowing
of foliage progresses up the stems of affected plants.
 Vascular tissue in stems and tubers often develops a brown discoloration;
typically there is a stem end rot of the tubers.
 Wilt symptoms are more severe when temperatures are high and plants
are stressed for water.
 Laboratory analysis of diseased plant tissue usually is necessary to
determine whether Fusarium or Verticillium is the causal agent.
 In most areas Verticillium wilt is more common than Fusarium wilt.
Mode of spread and survival
1. The fungus that causes Fusarium wilt can survive in the soil for several years
in the absence of hosts.
2. The roots of susceptible host plants are infected, and the pathogen moves up
in the vascular tissue to infect stems, stolons, and tubers.
3. The pathogen can be introduced to clean ground in infected seed tubers.

Management
1. Plant disease-free seed tubers.
2. Avoid growing seed potatoes in ground known to be infested with the
Fusarium wilt pathogen.
3. Rotation out of potatoes or other solanaceous crops for 4 to 6 years is
necessary to reduce soil inoculum levels.
 Potato wart: Synchytrium endobioticum
 Symptoms:
1. As small white granular swellings on the eyes .
2. Remain minute or may become as large as the tuber.
3. Soft, pulpy, white to begin & become black later
4. It is one of the post harvest disease of potato.
 Identification of pathogen:
1. Do not develop any mycelium
2. Produce summer sporangia – thin walled
3. Sporangia release zoospores which attack the tubers
Mode of spread and survival:
1. Resting spores - viable in soil for 20-25 yrs
2. Withstand passage through the intestines of cattle
3. Spread - contaminated manure, soil, infected seed tubers
Epidemiology:
4. Temp - 16.7 to 17.8°C
5. Presence of oxygen and nitrates in soil favours the germination of sporangia
Management:
6. Resistant cultivars - Kufri Kanchar, Kufri Sherpa, Kufri Jyoti
7. Steam sterilization of soil
8. Soil treatment – mercuric chloride and formalin 5%
 Powdery Scab: Streptomyces scabies
 Symptom:
1. Shallow scab – corky tissue which arises from abnormal proliferation of the cells
of the periderm of the tuber 
2. Lesions vary in size and shape and darker than the healthy skin
3. Corky lesions 1 to 3mm deep and darker than shallow lesions
4. Actinomycete attacks young tubers at a early stage of development.
5. IT IS ONE OF THE Post Harvest Diseases OF POTATO.
Identification of pathogen:
1. Actinomycete conidia – produced by formation of septa, which contract to
form narrow isthmuses between the cells
2. Conidia- cylindrical and hyaline
Mode of spread and survival:
3. Affects cabbage, carrot, eggplant, onion, radish
4. Contaminated soil and infected tubers - source of infection
5. Pathogen may survive passage through digestive tract of animals and
hence it may spread with farm yard manure
Management:
1. Use disease free planting materials
2. Soil application of PCNB (30kg/ha) at the time of planting
3. Green manuring before planting – effectively reduce disease incidence
4. Seed treatment - mercuric chloride 0.1 %
5. High degree of resistance - S. caldasii var. glabrescens, S. chacoense & S.
commersonii
6. Varieties - Menominee, Russet Rural, Sebago
 Charcoal rot: Macrophomina phaseolina

Symptoms:
1. Black spot (2-3mm in dia) develops around the lenticels which appears as whitish
specks at the centre
2. On cutting - internal tissues shows black patches beneath the spots on the surface of
the tuber
Identification of pathogen:
3. Mycelium - sparse or fluffy
4. Hyphae - branched, septate and greyish white or brown
5. Sclerotia - minute, black and smooth
6. Conidiophores - simple and rod shaped
7. Conidia - one celled, hyaline, oval or elliptical
Mode of spread and survival:
1. Pathogen present in the soil - primary source of inoculum
2. Entry of fungus - bruising of skin, insect damage
3. Sclerotia – survive in the soil for more than 3 yrs
Epidemiology:
1. Disease is more severe in wet soil
2. Temp - 31°C
 Management:
1. Avoid bruising of tubers during harvest, collection and storage
2. Temp of store house should be low
3. Early maturing varieties - Kufri Chandramukhi, Kufri Alankar
 references
1. Potato diseases
1. authors:Shanthiyaa VenkatesanRamyabharathi Sampath
2. Publisher: ATPA ISBN: 9788183213615, 8183213618 Edition: 2015.

2. Potato diseases and their management

1. Authors:SWARUP KUMAR CHAKRABARTI
ASHIS CHAKRABORTY
2. ISBN: 9783052111047, 9783052111047
3. @tnau agri portal