Damping off(Pythium debaryanum)

Symptoms

• Cool, cloudy weather, high humidity, wet soils, compacted soil, and overcrowding of seedlings usually favour the incidence of damping-off.
• Damping-off kills seedlings before or soon after they emerge.
• Infection before seedling emergence results in poor germination.
• If the decay is after seedlings emergence, they fall over or die which is referred to as "damping off."
• The destructiveness of the disease depends on the amount of pathogen in the soil and on environmental conditions.
• Seedlings that emerge develop lesion on the tender stem contacting the soil surface.
• The tissues beneath the lesion become soft rotted and the infected seedlings collapse.

Management

• Remove and destroy the infected seedlings.
• Avoid excessive irrigation and provide adequate drainage.
• Treat seeds with Trichoderma viride or Pseudomonas fluorescens (20 g/litre of water / kg of seed).
• Soil application of Trichoderma viride or Pseudomonas fluorescens fortified in organic manure and neem cake.
• Drench soil with Mancozeb 75 WP (4 gram/litre of water) or Bordeaux mixture 1% or Cheshunt compound or Copper oxychloride 50 WP (2.5 gram/litre of water) or Copper hydroxide 77 WP (1.5 gram/litre of water) as a prophylatic mesearure.

Chemical Control

Extremely Toxic

Highly Toxic

Moderately Toxic

Slightly Toxic