DISEASES OF
MUSTARD CROP
Alternaria blight of mustard
• This is a fungal disease.
• Alternaria blight causes 32-57 % of average yield loss
Symptoms
• The fungus attacks the lower leaves as small cir-
cular brown necrotic spots and slowly increase in
size.
• In severe cases many concentric spots coalesce
to cover large patches showing blightening and de-
foliation.
• Circular to linear dark brown spots also develop
on stems and pods which becomes elongated at
later stage.
• Infected pods produce small discolored and shriv-
eled seeds.
Mustard leaf
showing
spots
Alternaria
brassicae
Leaf spot
showing
concentric
rings
SURVIVAL AND SPREAD
• Disease is externally and inter-
nally seed borne
• Pathogen survives through conidia
or mycelium in diseased plant
debris or weed
• Relative humidity more than
70% coupled with warm weather
(12-25°C) and intermittent rains
favor disease development.
DISEASE MANAGEMENT
•Healthy seeds to be used for sowing.
•Affected plant portions should be col-
lected and burnt.
•Deep ploughing, timely weeding and
maintenance of optimum plant popula-
tion.
•Spraying soil isolates of Trichoderma
viride at 45 and 75 days after sowing.
•Spraying Mancozeb @0.2Kg in 100L of
water per hectare as soon symptoms
appear.
WHITE RUST OF MUSTARD
Albugo candida
Symptoms
• All aerial parts of the plant are attacked.
• White or creamy yellow pustules of various
shape and size appears on the surface of the
leaves, mainly on the lower surface.
• In severe infection the leaves become thick,
fleshy,rolled and their size becomes reduced.
• If young stems and inflorescence are infected
the fungus becomes systemic inside tissues
and produces deformities like swelling and dis-
tortion of the floral parts mainly due to hyper-
trophy and hyperplasia forming a stag head
structure.
SYMPTOM ON FLORAL
PART
Albugo candida
• Mycelium of fungus is inter cellular forming knob like
haustoria in the host cells.
• Hyphae forms beneath the epidermis and it gives rise to
the sporangial beds or sori.
• Sporangiophores arise from the sori are free from each
other laterally and are very thick towards the base.
• Sporangia are formed in basipetal succession in chains
are hyaline, and spherical and produces zoospores.
• Oogonia and anthredia are formed from intercellular
mycelium in intercellular spaces.
• Oospores are formed from the fertilization in hosts and
their germination takes place by formation of
zoospores.
Disease Cycle
•Pathogen perpetuates through the
oospores lying in soil or dis-
eased debris.
•Weed hosts serve as primary
source of inoculum.
•Secondary spread of pathogen is
by sporangia and zoospores.
EPIDEMIOLOGY
•The sporangia germinates at an
optimum temperature of 10°C.
•RH should be more than 65% with
less temperature of 15°C.
•Crops sown late are more disease
prone.
MANAGEMENT
•Destruction of weeds in and around
the fields should be done.
•Crop rotation.
•Rotation with non-cruciferous crops.
•Seed dressing with Metalaxyl @6g/
kg seed followed by a single spray
with
Metalaxyl+Mancozeb(Ridomilgold)
@0.2%.
DOWNEY MILDEW OF
MUSTARD
Symptoms
•Grayish white irregular necrotic patches
develop on the lower surface of the leaves.
•The upper surface of the leaves yellow spot
is there corresponding to necrotic spot on
lower surface.
•Later under favourable conditions brownish
white fungal mycellium may also be seen
on the spots.
•The most pronounced symptom is the infection
of inflorescence causing hypertrophy of pe-
duncle. (Staghead)
•The affected inflorescence does not produce
DOWNEY MILDEW OF MUSTARD
CAUSAL ORGANISM
Peronospora parasitica
Class-Oomycetes
• Peronospora is an obligate parasite, mycelium is
inter-cellular with large finger shaped haustoria.
• Numerous branched sporangiophores emerge
through the stomata on under surface of leaves.
• Sporangiophores are 6-8 times dichotomously
branched at the tip, each tip producing one spo-
rangium.
• Spherical, hyaline oogonium is fertilized by single
anthredium and produces pale yellow coloured
globose oospores.
Peronospora
DISEASE CYCLE
• Sporangia lands on suitable host germinates, pro-
duces appressoria and enters into the host epidermis.
• The hyphae grows inter-cellularly forming haustoria
• They produce sporangiophore bearing sporangia (a-
sexual cycle) and also anthredium and oogonium
which fertilizes to give the oospores (sexual cycle).
• Pathogen survives in the form of oospores. They
occur on the surface and in the hypodermis of seed
coat and these infected seeds produce seedlings with
downey mildew symptoms.
Wild hosts also serves as source of primary inocu-
lum.
Secondary spread caused by sporangia.
EPIDEMIOLOGY
Temperature in the range of 10-20°C and
relative humidity more than 90%
favours disease development.
Disease management
•Collect and destroy infected plant debris.
•Rotation with non-cruciferous crops.
•Seed dressing with Metalaxyl
(Apron35SD)@6g/kg seed.
•Single spray with Metalaxyl + Mancozeb
(Ridomilgold) @0.2%.
SCLEROTINIA STEM ROT
SYMPTOMS
• Stems develop water soaked spots near to
crown region which later may be covered
with cottony white mycelium.
• As disease progresses the affected portions of
stem develops a bleached appearance at
the internodes and eventually the tissues
shreds.
• Premature ripening and shredding of
stem, wilting and drying.
• In later stage black sclerotial bodies are
also seen on infected plants.
CAUSAL ORGANISM
Sclerotinia sclerotiorum
• Asexual spores (conidia) are not formed.
• Sclerotia the survival structure.
Disease cycle
• Primary infection: Sclerotinia survive in
soil.
• Secondary infection: By irrigation water.
Favourable conditions
• High humidity (90-95%) and average temper-
ature (18-25C) along with wind current favours
the disease development.
MANAGEMENT
• Use crop rotation do not plant highly sus-
ceptible crops more than once in four
years, including dry edible beans, sun-
flowers, mustard and canola. Use at least
a five year rotation for severely infested
fields.
• Avoid planting next to a field that had
severe Sclerotinia in the past four or five
years. Control broad-leaved weeds.
• Plant thoroughly cleaned seed. Avoid
dense stands of canola.
Phyllody
