Anthracnose Leaf Blight

About the Disease: Anthracnose is a blight that is caused by the fungus. Many people confuse the blight with spots. When many spots converge to form the blight, it can be considered as the blight. This mainly affects the leaves of the Maple plants.

Symptoms: Many lesions are initially formed. They are either round or oval in shape and are quite small. Slowly, they start elongating to form larger spots. The spots will then fuse to form the blight. The water soaked spots will turn brown and form the spots that are spindle shaped. These spots will be having characteristic dark brown or yellow colored borders. The old lesions will have a grey center and filled with black spots. The gray center can also fall apart. The condition of leaf blight will be followed by the stalk rot condition, which is a severe state and may cause the entire death of the plant.

Pathogen Involved: This disease is caused by the fungus Colletotrichum graminicola.

Time of Occurrence: this mainly occurs in a humid and wet weather condition, during which the fungus thrives.

Conditions Favoring Disease: Anything from a warm to cold climate might favor the disease. The spores of the fungus usually get dispersed with the help of wind. A wet condition will further help in the growth of the fungi. When proper tillage or plowing is not done in the field and when more and more crops of the same variety are grown in the same area, this might make the condition favorable for the excessive growth of fungus. All these need to be avoided.

Disease Management: since this disease is caused by the fungus, the place of cultivation must be kept hygienic. Overwatering or improper amount of ventilation can provide space for the extensive growth of this fungus. To avoid this, you can continuously monitor the level of shade, water and air that are supplied to these crops. The area of cultivation has to be properly plowed to remove the infected plants or the residues. Any infected plant has to be immediately harvested. In any area of crop cultivation, rotation of crops must surely be practiced. The same crops need not be grown year after year. There must be a rotation of the corn plants with other fruits crops and so on. This will help in efficient management of the disease. Other non grass varieties of crops can also be cultivated. The resistant varieties of corns can also be cultivated.