Red rot wiped out part of my cane last year. How do I reduce red rot risk right from sett selection and planting in UP?
4 जवाब
Red rot is mainly a seed and soil borne disease, so prevention starts before planting by choosing a resistant or tolerant variety and taking setts only from a healthy, disease free seed plot, never from a field that showed red rot. Treat the setts before planting as recommended, plant in well drained soil, and avoid waterlogging which favours the disease. Do not ratoon a field that had red rot, and rotate to a non host crop before planting cane there again. Remove and destroy any infected clumps showing reddening inside the split cane with a musty smell, and clean tools. Since some popular varieties have become susceptible, switching to a recommended resistant variety is often the most important step. Confirm the current resistant variety and sett treatment with your sugar mill cane department or local KVK.
The biggest single step for us was switching variety. The old popular one had become susceptible and red rot kept coming back. After we moved to a recommended resistant variety from a clean seed source the disease pressure dropped a lot. Ask the mill which variety is holding up against red rot in your area.
Never take your seed setts from a field that showed red rot, even if it looks partly fine. I learned that the infection carries in the setts and you plant the disease into the new field. Take setts only from a healthy seed plot and treat them before planting as advised.
Waterlogging in low patches made my red rot far worse, the disease loves standing water. After I improved drainage and stopped ratooning the affected field, and rotated it with another crop before planting cane again, the problem eased. If you split a cane and see red inside with a sour musty smell, pull out and destroy those clumps at once.