Pacific Pests and Pathogens Pacific Pests, Pathogens & Weeds - Fact Sheets

Coconut thread blight (167) Print Fact Sheet

Common Name

Coconut thread blight

Scientific Name

Corticium penicillatum

Distribution

Narrow. Southeast Asia, Oceania. It is reported from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.

Hosts

Coconut

Symptoms & Life Cycle

The fungus that causes thread blight was first described in the 1920s from Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu, and both its taxonomy and biology need to be re-examined.

Infection occurs on the underside of a leaflet, in the middle, and then the threads of the fungus travel to the leaf midrib (called the 'rachis'). The threads travel up and down the midrib (Photo 3), confined to the underside, colonising the leaflets one after the other. Rots develop beginning near the midrib and these destroy the leaflets (Photo 4), although the tips remain green for a while (Photo 5). The midrib of the frond does not appear to be injured by the fungus.

No spore-producing fungus has been described for this disease, although it is presumed that initial infection of the leaflets are caused by airborne spores. Infection also occurs by leaf-to-leaf contact. It is said that in Papua New Guinea, thread blight can withstand desiccation from sun and drying winds.

Impact

The affected parts of the leaves become necrotic and dry. Occasionally, entire fronds are attacked, and these die, and fall prematurely. But mostly the disease occurs in patches on the older fronds, often at the ends.

Usually, thread blight is a minor disease, unless the palms are shaded. However, in the wet areas in the interior of some Pacific islands it is severe, and possibly reducing yield.

Detection & inspection

Look for patches of dead leaflets on the older fronds with white threads over them and along the midribs. From a distance, and especially in the evening, these white patches are very noticeable.

Management

CULTURAL CONTROL

Before planting:

If planting in high rainfall areas, look to see if thread blight occurs there. If it does, or it is likely to occur, do the following:

RESISTANT VARIETIES
There is nothing known about the differences between varieties to this disease.

CHEMICAL CONTROL
This is not an appropriate method of control for this disease. Chemical control is uneconomic because of the low value of coconuts per unit area; additionally, it is impractical to apply fungicides except to young palms.


AUTHOR Grahame Jackson
Photos 3&4 Kohler F, Pellegrin F, Jackson G, McKenzie E (1997) Diseases of cultivated crops in Pacific Island countries. South Pacific Commission. Pirie Printers Pty Limited, Canberra, Australia.

Produced with support from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research under project PC/2010/090: Strengthening integrated crop management research in the Pacific Islands in support of sustainable intensification of high-value crop production, implemented by the University of Queensland and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community.



This fact sheet is a part of the app Pacific Pests, Pathogens & Weeds

The mobile application is available from the Google Play Store and Apple iTunes.


Pacific Pests, Pathogens and Weeds Android Edition      Pacific Pests, Pathogens and Weeds iOS Edition

www.pestnet.org            Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research