Authors:Mohanan, C
Abstract:To strengthen the knowledge base ofdiseases and disorders affecting the bamboos in nurseries, plantations and natural stands, an in-depth study was carried out. Research plots in bamboo stands were laid out in 25 different localities in the Kerala State and an experimental bamboo nursery was raised at Chandanathodu, Wayanad. Disease indexing was made using standard techniques. Causal agents of diseases were isolated, identified and pathogenicity proved. Histopathological, flourescence and transmission electron microscopic techniques were applied to confinn the association of Phytoplasma with little leaf disease. III vitro and in vivo screenings of fungicide were made to manage the diseases in nurseries and stands. In bamboo stands, a total of 37 fungi and a phytoplasma were found causing various diseases. Among these, diseases affecting the productivity ofthe stands include: rot ofemerging and growing culms caused by Fusarium moniliforme var. intermedium and F. equiseti, respectively, thread blight caused by Botryobasidium salmonicolor, witches' broom and little leaf caused by Balansia liniaris and Phytoplasma respectively, and culm basal rot caused by Amylosporus campbellii. In bamboo nurseries, web-blight caused by Rhizoctonia solani, foliage rust by Dasturella divina and seedling stunting and foliage striping by virus (BMo V) are the most potential ones. Diseases in nurseries can be controlled by adopting good nursery management practices or by prophylactic fungicidal applications. In bamboo stands, most of the potential diseases can be managed by cultural measures like mild surface burning, thinning, pruning. etc. and by application of fungicides.
Keywords:chemical control; cultural control; foliage; fungal diseases; fungicides; inflorescences; pathogenic