Fungal attack on mulberry crop worries farmers

Chikkaramanna, a farmer, explained to them on Monday that the saplings which were green turned yellow suddenly and began withering.

“Despite spraying enough fertilisers on time, the plants have begun to die. It seems to be contageous as all the plants in single row have withered,” Chikkaramanna added.

Striking the vulnerable
Scientist Dr J Sukumar said the fungus, which is harmless otherwise in the soil, attacks the vulnerable root of the plants. “The chemicals that sprayed to check the fungal disease harms other friendly microbs in the soil,” he added.

The centre has developed ‘siri bioguard’ which was made of different biological pest controllers.

He said a mix of two kg of siri bioguard with 50 kg of neem and 10 to 12 litres of water should be dried in shade for a week to allow the fungus to grow on them.
“The mix should be later sprayed to the plants with the manure. Later it should be covered with top soil and water be sprinkled,” he said.

Others affected
“Mulberry - v1 grown in Ramanagara district, Kanakapur taluk Doddamaralavadi, Arohalli, Gulbarga, Raichur, Bagalkot districts have also been affected with the disease. Now it has spread rampantly in Chikkaballapur district. The infected plants must be removed and burnt. For, the dried up stem can also spread the disease,” he said.
Sukumar said such instances of infection can be prevented by spraying two gm of bavistin fungicide with a litre of water.