Diseases

a) Anthracnose

• Caused by fungus colletrotrichum spp
• Twig die back
• Brown blight of leaves
• Stalk rot of berries and leaves

Control:

• Prune badly affected plants in February- March.
• Protect the plants by spraying 0.5% Bordeaux mixture
• spraying of Bavistin 50 W.P. (carbendazim) @ 0.03% at a.i. (120g/200 litres of water).

b) Rust

• Caused by fungus Hamielia spp
• Small, pale yellow spots on upper leaf surfaces
• followed by powdery orange-yellow lesions on the undersides of leaves;
• symptoms commonly develop on lower leaves of plant first and then spread; infected leaves drop from the plant and twigs and branches become defoliate

Control

1.Copper-containing fungicides

2.Systemic fungicides

3.Planting spore traps.

4.Bacteria such as Bacillus and Pseudomonas

5.White halo fungus, Lecanicillium lecanii, has been suggested as a potential biological control agent of coffee rust .

c) Berry blotch

• Cercospora coffeicola
• Dark brown, irregular, slightly sunken necrotic spots on the upper exposed surface of the green berries.
• Necrotic spots enlarge in size and cover a major portion of berry surface.
• Skin of the affected berries show a purple halo around the necrotic spots.
• Affected tissue turns brown to black, shrivels, dries up and sticks fast to the parchment.
• Maintain good overhead shade to avoid sun scorching of berries.
• Spray the crop with 1.0% Bordeaux mixture when the incidence is noticed.

d) Wilt disease

• Caused by Gibberella and
• Attack the root first and consequently causes wilting and drying of leaves.
• At later phase branches and plant wilts

Control

1.Spray 1 % Bordeaux mixture

2.Use jholmol

3.Use lime in case of acidic soil

4.Use of trichoderma.