2. Diseases of Sugarcane
(Saccharum officinarum)
Dr. Shivam Singh
Assistant Professor
Department of Plant Pathology
School of Agriculture, LPU
3. Important diseases of sugarcane
1. Red rot: Colletotrichum falcatum
2. Whip smut: Ustilago scitaminea
3. Pokkah Boeng: Fusarium moniliformae
4. Ratoon stunting: Clavibacter xyli
5. Grassy shoot: Phytoplasma
4. 1. Red rot
Causal organism: Colletotrichum falcatum
Perfect stage: Glomerella tucumanensis
Symptoms
• Typical symptoms of red rot are observed in the
internodes of a stalk by splitting it longitudinally.
• The presence of cross-wise white patches are the
important diagnostic character of the disease.
• The diseased cane also emits acidic-sour smell. As the
disease advances, the stalk becomes hollow and
covered with white mycelial growth.
• The pathogen also produces tiny reddish lesions on the
upper surface of leaves with dark dots in the centre.
5.
6. Pathogen
• The pathogen produces specialized structures known as
acervuli, which support profuse sporulation.
• Conidiophores are closely packed inside the acervulus,
which are short, hyaline and single celled.
• Spores (conidia) are hyaline (clear), oblong, single-celled
and produced in a slimy matrix.
• Fungus also produces large number of globose and dark
brown to black perithecia with a papillate ostiole.
7.
8.
9.
10. Survival and Spread
• They rely heavily on water, particularly rainfall,
for dissemination.
• The fungus is sett-borne and also persists in the soil
on the diseased clumps and stubbles.
Favourable Conditions
• Successive ratoon cropping.
• Water logged conditions and injuries caused by
insects.
11. Management
• Use disease free setts.
• Hot water treatment at 52˚C for 10 mins.
• Use of resistant varieties viz., Co 86032, Co 86249,
CoSi 95071, CoG 93076, CoC 22, CoSi 6 and CoG 5.
• Cut ends and setts should be dipped in 1% Bordeaux
mixture.
• Use fungitoxic chemicals like Bavistan, Benomyl,
Topsin and Aretan @0.1% for 18 min. at 52ºC for
dipping setts.
12. 2. Whip smut
Causal organism: Ustilago scitaminea
(Syn. Sporisorium scitamineum)
Symptoms
• Affected plants are stunted and the central shoot is
replaced by a long whip like, dusty black structure,
several feet in length.
• In early stages this structure is covered by a thin
silvery white film, which rupture exposing the mass of
dense, black dust.
13.
14. Pathogen
• The fungal mycelium spores are echinulate, light brown
and spherical, measuring 6.5 – 8.5 µ in diameter.
• They germinate readily in water, producing 2-3 celled
promycelia.
• Sporidia arise terminally or laterally and are hyaline,
thin walled, single celled and elliptical to linear.
15. Disease cycle
• Teliospores may survive in the soil for long periods, upto
10 years.
• The smut spores and dormant mycelium also present in
or on the infected setts.
• The primary spread of the disease is through diseased
seed-pieces (setts) and also present in soil, which cause
soil-borne infection.
• The secondary spread in the field is mainly through the
smut spores developed in the whips, aided by air currents.
18. 3. Pokkah boeng
Causal organism: Fusarium moniliforme or
F. andiyazi or F. sachhari or F. subglutinans
Symptoms
The general symptoms of Pokkah boeng are mainly of
three types:
1. Chlorotic Phase: The earliest symptom is a chlorotic
condition towards the base of the young leaves and
occasionally on the other parts of the leaf blades.
Frequently, a pronounced wrinkling, twisting and
shortening of the leaves accompanied the malformation or
distortion of the young leaves.
First reported from Java in 1896.
19. 2. Acute Phase or Top-Rot Phase: The most advanced
and serious stage is a top rot phase.
• The young spindles are killed and the entire top dies.
• Leaf infection sometimes continued to downward and
penetrates in the stalk.
• Later, the entire base of the spindle and even growing
point showed a malformation of leaves, pronounced
wrinkling, twisting and rotting of spindle leaves.
• Red specks and stripes also developed.
3. Knife-cut Phase: It is characterized by one or two or
even more transverse cuts in the rind of the stalk /stem
in such a uniform manner as if, the tissues are removed
with a sharp knife.
23. Survival and spread
This is an air-borne disease and primarily transmitted
through the air-currents and secondary transmission is
through the infected setts, irrigation water, splashed
rains and soil.
Favourable conditions
20-30°C temperature and the average relative humidity
higher than 70 to 80% with a cloudy weather, drizzling
rains favors the growth of pathogen.
24. Management
• Removal of plant debris.
• Use of resistant varieties.
• Spraying of different fungicides like
Bavistin (0.1%) or Blitox (0.2%) or
Copper oxychloride or Dithane M-45
(0.3%).
25. 4. Ratoon stunting
Causal organism: Clavibacter xyli
(Syn. Leifsonia xyli)
Symptoms
• The affected plants are stunted, the stunting being most
severe in stubble and ratoon crops.
• In infected stocks, the presence of pin head like
orange coloured dots of bacteria on the internal soft
tissue in the nodal region.
• The setts taken from diseased plants germinate poorly
and the few shoots that are emerged grow very slowly.
26.
27. Etiology
• Colonies on semi-solid media are circular with
entire margins, convex and non-pigmented.
• They are small, thin and rod shaped.
• Non-motile.
• Gram-positive.
28. Management
• Planting of healthy and disease free seed cane.
• Growing resistant varieties.
• Hot water treatment of the seed cane @51°C
for 2-3 hours.
• Chemical disinfectants that may be used on
cane cutting knives includes, Lysol, Dettol,
ethanol, Mirrol and Roccal.
29. 5. Grassy shoot
Causal organism: Phytoplasma (MLO)
Symptoms
• Initial symptom appears in the young crop of 3-4
months age as thin papery white young leaves at the
top of the cane.
• Later, white or yellow tillers appear in large number
below these leaves (profuse tillering).
• The cane becomes stunted with reduced internodal
length with axillary bud sprouting.
• Cane formation rarely occurs.
30.
31. Etiology
• Two types of bodies are seen in ultrathin sections of
phloem cells of infected plants.
• The spherical bodies of 300-400 nm diameter
and filamentous bodies of 30-53 nm diameter.
Disease cycle
• The primary spread of the phytoplasma is through
diseased setts and cutting knifes.
• The pathogen is transmitted secondarily by
aphids viz., Rhopalosiphum maydis, Melanaphis
sacchari and M. idiosacchari.
• Sorghum and maize serves as natural collateral hosts.
32. Management
• Eradication of diseased parts as soon as symptoms
are seen.
• Avoid selection of setts from diseased area.
• Pre-treating the healthy setts with hot water @52°C
for 1 hour before planting
• Treating them with hot air @54°C for 8 hours.
• Spraying the crop twice a month with insecticides.
• Application of tetracyclin.