Early Blight of Potato

 Causal Organism: Alternaria solani (fungus)

 Symptoms:

I. Affects stems, foliage (leaves), and tubers.

II. Small dark spots appear first. These grow bigger and become dry, black
or brown spots.
III. Spots have a "bullseye" appearance due to concentric rings of raised and
depressed tissue.
IV. Yellowish or greenish-yellow rings border growing spots.
V. Lower leaves show the first signs and often die, but dead leaves do not fall
off.
VI. Stems get dark, sunken spots that are oval-shaped with rings inside.
VII. Tuber infection shows dark, circular to irregular spots, with raised, purple
to dark metallic gray edges.
VIII. Under the tuber skin, the flesh is dry, leathery, or corky. Advanced
infections lead to yellow, water-soaked flesh.

 Disease Cycle:

1. The fungus (Alternaria solani) survives in dead plant parts left in the soil
from last season.
2. It can also stay alive on wild plants like nightshade or horsenettle.
3. It spreads most in warm and humid weather (24–29°C or 75–84°F).
4. Conidia germinate in about 40 minutes under optimal conditions (28-30°C/82-
86°F).
5. Infection starts on older, aging foliage; lesions appear 5-7 days after infection.
6. Sporulation occurs during wet nights, with conidia dispersed by wind, rain, or
irrigation.
7. Early blight is polycyclic: new infections can occur repeatedly within a single
growing season.

 Management:
o Plant Health:
 Keep plants healthy, as stressed plants are more prone to infection.
 Avoid nitrogen and phosphorus deficiencies.
o Seed Tubers:
 Use disease-free seed tubers for planting.
 Late-maturing varieties are generally more resistant; Kufri Sindhuri is
moderately resistant.
o Sanitation:
 Remove and destroy infected plant debris to reduce inoculum.
 Eradicate weed hosts like hairy nightshade to reduce the spread of
infection.
o Fungicides:
 Early foliar fungicide sprays (e.g., Zineb or captan 0.2%) should be
applied and repeated every 15-20 days.
o Irrigation Management:
 Avoid irrigation in cool, cloudy periods or late in the evening when foliage
stays wet for extended periods.
 Minimize leaf wetness duration by controlling overhead irrigation
schedules.
Late Blight of Potato:
 Causal Organism: Phytophthora infestans (Mont.) de Bary, a member of the
oomycetes (water molds).
 Symptoms:

I. Blackish/brown lesions on leaves and stems.

II. Water-soaked spots on leaves, typically at the tips or edges of lower
leaves.
III. Lesions expand to purple-brown and eventually black under moist, cool
conditions.
IV. White moldy growth on the underside of leaves, producing sporangia and
sporangiophores.
V. Stem breaks at nodes, leading to plant collapse.
VI. Tubers develop purplish-brown spots and necrosis (cell death/ tissue
death) that spreads from the surface inward.

 Causal Organism Characteristics:

I. Mycelium is hyaline (transparent) and coenocytic (few septa /none).

II. Asexual reproduction occurs through sporangia, which produce
zoospores.
III. Sexual reproduction produces thick-walled, diploid oospores (zygote) in
the presence of both mating types.

 Disease Cycle:

1) Disease initiated by spores (inoculum) from infected plant tissue, seed

tubers, or volunteer potatoes.
2) Phytophthora survives in stored tubers, dump piles (potatoes not suitable for
market), and field plants.
3) Asexual sporangia and sexual oospores are dispersed by wind, rain, or soil.
4) Infection occurs through water or dew under cool conditions.
5) New sporangia are produced within 4-6 days after infection, repeating the
cycle in moist, cool weather.

 Control Measures:
o Cultural Practices:
 Ensure good drainage and air movement in the crop canopy to reduce
moisture levels.
 Rotate crops every 2-3 years to non-host crops.
 Destroy infected plant material properly.
  Grow resistant potato varieties (e.g., Kufri Navtal/ Naveen/Jeevan).
o Fungicide Application:
 Timely fungicide application is crucial (e.g., Dithane M-45, Dithane Z-
78).Apply fungicides at a rate of 2.5 kg per 1000 liters of water per
hectare, every 10-12 days.
 Protective spraying with mancozeb or zineb (0.2%) to prevent tuber
infection.
o Seed Selection:
 Use disease-free seed tubers from reputable sources.
o Community Effort:
 Late blight is a community disease; sporangia can spread to neighboring
fields, so timely control is essential for all growers in the area.
Blister Blight of Tea – Exobasidium
vexans
Impact

 Infects tender foliage, leading to direct crop losses.

 Historical losses: Tea industry in southern India saw enormous crop losses
(Subba Rao, 1946).
 Estimated 43% annual crop loss if not controlled.
 The use of infected leaf reduces quality of processed tea due to biochemical
changes (Baby et al., 1998).
 Common in Temi Tea Estate, Sikkim between July–August.

Causal Organism / Etiology

 Pathogen: Exobasidium vexans, an obligate parasite, host-specific to tea.

 Life cycle duration: 11–28 days, with multiple cycles.
 Favorable season: Monsoon (June to December) in Southeast Asia.
 Requires high humidity:
o Spore formation and release at minimum 83% RH (Relative humidity [ ratio
of how much water vapor is in the air to how much water vapor the air could
potentially contain at a given temperature]).
o Germ-tube growth stops below 80% RH.
 Basidiospores killed by:
o Direct sunlight, especially UV-B radiation.
o Disease suppressed by more than 4 hours of sunshine/day (inverse relation
with RH).
 Initial infection in northern India: March (on volunteer seedlings), peaks in Aug–
Oct.

Symptoms

 Initial stage: Small, pinhole-size spots on young leaves (<1 month old).
 Progression: Spots enlarge, become transparent and light brown.
 After 7 days: Blister-like symptoms on lower leaf surface, dark green water-
soaked zones surrounding the blisters.
 Later: Blisters turn white and velvety (soft and smooth appearance), then brown.
 Young stems: Become bent, distorted, may break off or die.

Life Cycle

 Repeats continuously in wet conditions.

 Spore dispersal: By wind.
  Infection process:
o Spores land on moist leaves → germinate → penetrate directly using
appressoria (specialized structures to break through the surface and infect the
leaf).
 Basidiospores survival:
o Survival rate is low in drought or sunlight.
 Cycle duration: 3–4 weeks, with symptom onset in 11 days.

Development Phases
1) Sporulation( spore formation) to germination: 2 hrs (in ideal conditions) to 5 days
2) Germination to entry: 2–9 days
3) Entry to translucent spot (Stage I): 3–10 days
4) After entering, the fungus grows intercellularly (between the leaf cells).
5) During this time, there are no visible symptoms.
6) Then, it starts to cause damage to internal tissues, leading to the formation of a
translucent (blur/ allows light to pass through) spot on the upper side of the leaf.
7) Stage I to basidia outbreak: 6–9 days
8) The fungus continues to grow beneath the epidermis (outer skin) of the lower
side of the leaf.
9) It forms a hymenium (a layer made up of reproductive cells: paraphyses and
basidia).
10) These structures push up the leaf surface, forming a blister.
11) Eventually, the epidermis bursts, and spores (basidiospores) are released from
the basidia.

Dispersal
 Airborne basidiospores are the primary dispersal mechanism.

Management

 Cultural practices:
o Prune and destroy affected leaves and shoots.
o Remove shade trees to increase sunlight exposure.
 Chemical control:
o Spraying of Bordeaux mixture or Copper Oxychloride 0.1%.
o (Spray) Copper Oxychloride (210g) + Nickel Chloride (210g) per ha every
5 days (June–November).
o Tridemorph spray at 340–560 ml/ha (mild to moderate rainfall).
o Acibenzolar-S-methyl 0.14% alternating with a fungicide weekly improves
control.
 Biological control:
o Pseudomonas fluorescens at 0.5% applied every 7 days reduces disease
incidence.