Turmeric Diseases, Pests, Symptoms, Control Measures

Common Turmeric Diseases and Pests

Today let us discuss about the common Turmeric Diseases and Pests along with their control methods.

Pests in Turmeric:  

Rhizome Fly:

Symptoms:

• The maggot drills into the shoots of turmeric plant and which results to holes that are found on the plants.
• The maggots feed on the rhizome which causes rhizome rot.

Prevention Measure:

• Select good quality seeds from reputed suppliers for planting.
• The affected plants should be removed immediately and destroyed.
• Use organic pesticide, diazinon can be a best option.
• In case of severe infection, Application of 10% phorate @ 20 kg/ha should be applied to the base of the plants.

Shoot Boring Caterpillar:

Symptoms:

• These pests lay eggs on leaves and other soft parts of the plant.
• These caterpillars hatch out of eggs bore into the shoots and fed on the inner content which causes formation of dead hearts.

Preventive Measures:

• Remove affected shoots along with caterpillar and dispose them.
• In case of Spraying of carbaryl 50wp @ 1 kg in 500 lit. Water can be a good solution.
• Spraying of 0.04% endosulfan can also be a good option.

Nematodes:

Symptoms:

• These pests feed on tender rhizomes, roots and base of pseudostem causing stunting, chlorosis, poor tillering and necrosis of leaves.
• You can observe root galls and lesions that lead to rotting of the roots.

Preventive Measures:

• Dispose the infested plants completely.
• Infected rhizomes should be treated with hot water (50°C) for 10 minutes.
• Use nematode free rhizomes for planting.
• Use marigold as inter crop.
• Deep ploughing or solarized beds in summer to make bed fertile.
• Implement crop rotation with cereal crops, marigold, Chrysanthemum, Sesbania, Gaillardia, castor bean and Desmodium spp.
• Apply Neem (Azaradirachtaindica) seed cake before planting. 

Common Disease in Turmeric:

Read: Frequently Asked Questions About Plant Diseases.

Rhizome Rot:

Symptoms:

• You can observe sudden wilting of the plant.
• The rhizomes and roots of wilted plants get rotten.

Favorable Conditions: 

• Younger sprouts are the most susceptible to this disease. Severe Nematode infestation can lead to rhizome rot disease.
• Temperature above 30°C and high soil moisture climatic conditions favors this disease.
• Poor drainage system and water logging increases the intensity of the disease.

Preventive Measures:

• Drenching of soil with 1% ceresin can be a best option.
• Use disease free sets for Planting.
• Spraying of Bordeaux mixture 5:5:50 can be an effective treatment.
• Avoid water logging conditions and implement proper irrigation.

Leaf spot:

This is a  soil-borne disease that affects the leaves in the months July to October. This disease survives in plant debris. This disease spread through rain splashes in rainy seasons.

Symptoms:

• You can observe brown spots of various sizes on the upper surface of the young leaves.
• The lesions are irregular in shape and white or grey in the center of the leaves.
• Later, the spots may coalesce and form an irregular patch that covers almost the whole leaf.
• The center of the spots on the leaves contains fruit head shaped fruiting structures.

Favorable conditions

• High soil moisture can favor this disease.
• The temperature below 25°C and leaf wetness can increase the chance of this disease.

Preventive Measures:

• Proper sanitation and irrigation will protect the plants from this disease.
• For an effective treatment, Spray with Mancozeb 0.25% or copper oxy chloride 0.25% immediately after the appearance of symptoms and at 15 days interval.

Read: Garlic Diseases and Pests.

Leaf blotch:

It is a soil borne disease survives on infected plant debris.

Symptoms:

• The major symptoms appear as small, oval, rectangular or irregular brown spots on either side of the leaves, which soon become dirty yellow or dark brown.
• The leaves also turn yellow.
• If the infection is severe the plants look like water soaked the rhizome yield is reduced.

Favorable conditions

• High soil moisture favors this disease.
• Temperature below 25°C and leaf wetness conditions will favor this disease.

Preventive Measures:                   

• Proper irrigation, avoid overhead water, prepare soil beds with well-drained soil.
• Spray with Mancozeb 0.25% or copper oxy chloride 0.25% as soon as you observe the symptoms.

Dry rot:

It is a viral disease, that lives in the organic matter in the soil for many years.  It infects form vulnerable plants.

Symptoms:

• The major symptoms are root rot and rhizome rot that mainly occurs in the typical dry rot of rhizomes from October onwards.
• The affected rhizomes become very soft and shrunken, and then dry up and become very hard.
• You can observe foliar yellowing and drying up of foliage during maturity period of the crop during the months of October– November.
• When you open the infected rhizomes, the affected zones appear as dull brown and dark.

Favorable conditions

• High soil temperatures (Temperatures above 35°C) and 15-20 per cent higher moisture in the soil and alluvial or sandy soil conditions favors this disease.

Bacterial wilt:

Symptoms:

• Sudden wilting and death of the plant without any symptoms like yellowing or spotting of leaves is the major symptom.
• This disease will wilt all the branches at the same time.
• The infected plants have wilted stems that cut across, the pith has a darkened, plants look like completely water-soaked.
• When you press the infected stems, you can observe greyish slimy ooze comes out from the infected part.
• The disease is severe, it may cause extensive hollowing of the stem.

Favorable conditions

• The diseases affect is very high in moist soils at temperatures above 24°C.
• High soil temperature and moisture will encourage the this disease.

Preventive Measures:

• Avoid overhead watering and implement proper irrigation methods.
• You use insecticides for effective treatment. Spray Bordeaux mixture 5:5:50 for best results.
• Spray once a week to reduce infection.

Nutritional Deficiencies:

Nitrogen: the nitrogen deficiency will give very poor yields in turmeric farming.

Symptoms:

• Pale or yellow green leaves.
• Reddish tints that turn at the leaf margins and it spreads to the midrib or central vein. The infected are Leaves are small. Overall growth is markedly reduced.
• Deficiency results in reduction of rhizome yield.

Preventive Measure:

• For nitrogen deficiency, Use Foliar spray of urea 1% or DAP 2% twice in a week

Potassium: Potassium deficiency is common in turmeric plants.

Symptoms:

• Young leaves suffer with extreme deficiency.
• Potassium deficiency leads to reduced growth and shortened internodes.
• Potassium deficiency leads marginal burn or scorch (brown leaf edges), necrotic (dead) spots in the leaf, reduction of yields.
• There will be lateral breaks in stems and they wilt readily.

Preventive Measure:

• Application of K or foliar spray of K2 and SO4 @ 1% at every night will reduce the deficiency.

Iron: Young leaves of plants will suffer with iron deficiency.

Symptoms:

• You can observe interveinal chlorosis and it spread entire leaf.
• In severe cases, the leaves turn white.

Preventive Measure:

• Treat the Soil with FeSO4 by foliar spray ofFeSO4 @ 0.5%during 3rd, 4th and 5th months.

Read: Turmeric Cultivation.

Last Updated: November 22, 2018