Endemicity in malformation disease of mango (Mangifera indica).
Chakrabarti D. K., Pandey M. K., Kumar R., Sunil Kumar
Author Affiliation: Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh 224 229, India.
Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 75 : 172-174
Abstract : A study was conducted in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India during 1999-2002 to investigate the endemicity of mango malformation disease (Fusarium moniliforme var. subglutinans). The cultivars used included Dashehari, Langra and Himsagar (alternate bearing); and Neelum and Malika (regular bearing). After continuous disease increase for 4-5 years (epidemic stage), a state of host-pathogen equilibrium was attained (endemic stage). During the epidemic phase, the production of daughter infection per parent infection was slightly exceeding 1, but during the endemic phase, this was less than 1. Increasing disease percentage hastened the attainment of endemicity. In off years, the low production of flowers limited the infection sites and the inoculum potential. In the presence of a high number of mother malformed panicles, the infected plants attempted to produce a profuse number of flowers to reduce the disease proportion. Endemicity was attained faster in alternate bearing cultivars Dashehari and Langra than in regular bearing ones. The asymptote L at which the disease would level off, was higher in Dashehari and Langra than the regular bearing cultivars.