Wilt

This disease is caused by a fungus, Fusarium oxyporum F. sp. Udum, which survives in off season on plant trashes in the soil.The leaves of the affected plants become yellowish in color, then drop and finally the whole plant dry out. These types of symptoms can be easily confused with shortage of moisture in the soil though there is plenty of moisture in the soil where these symptoms develop. The disease in fact can be diagnosed by seeing the black streaks on the wood after removing the outer epidermal strip from the major roots.

Control Measures

It is difficult to control the disease due to the soil borne nature of the causal fungus. However, its incidents can be reduced considerably by taking certain precautions. Thses include following a three to four year crop rotation, taking a mixed crop of jowar and arhar and collecting and burning the plant trasnes left after harvesting. Best control is to plant disease resistant varieties like Amar, Azad, Asha (IPCL-87119), Maruthi, C-11, BDN-1, BDN-2, NP-5 etc.