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LARGE CARDAMOM Anthracnose

Name of Crop	LARGE CARDAMOM
Scientific Name	Amomum subulatum Roxb
Local Name	Elaichi/ Bara elaichi
Family	Zingiberaceae
Distribution state/World wide	Sikkim, Darjeeling, Arunachal Pradesh, Bhutan, Nepal
Common Name of Disease	ANTHRACNOSE
Local Name of Disease	Leaf blight
Causal Organism	Colletotrichum gleosporioides
Distribution of Disease in Sikkim	Present in all the four districts of Sikkim irrespective of variety and locality
Disease Incidence	Moderate to high
Site of Infection	Leaves, pseudostems , clumbs and rhizomes
Dissemination of the Disease	Through infected planting materials, contaminated soil and water
Symptoms	Water-soaked lesions appear on the leaf margin or on the tips of the leaves which rapidly enlarges, coalesce and cover the entire leaf lamina giving blighted appearance. The advancing lesions are blackish-brown in colour and margins give a yellow halo around it. The affected leaves become necrotic and dry. Leaf sheath covering the pseudostem shows blackish-brown discolouration which progress down to the rhizome and gradually the pseudostem becomes brittle and breaks in the middle or at the color region. Eventually, the affected clump dries up completely giving the entire plantation a burnt appearance
Favourable enviromental condition for disease	Inadequate shades, water stress condition during winter season, lack of field sanitation and nutrient management. The cardamom crop is grown as monoculture crop ever since its introduction which has provided favourable condition for building up of the pests and pathogens in the long run
Mode of Transmission	This disease seemed to have introduced along with the introduction of Varlangey variety from Bhutan by some farmers of our state. The transmission of disease is mainly through diseased planting materials from a affected plot to a new location. Once, the disease is introduced in a new locality which is free from disease earlier, the entire locality gets devastated by the disease. Therefore the plant quarantine is very important to nip the devil at the bud
Plant Protection Measures	Avoid collecting planting materials from infected garden. Removal of old cut tillers and weeds from the garden and burnt them to avoid spread of disease. Sterilization of the tools by dipping in hot water for half an hour before harvesting or cleaning of the healthy field is important to avoid mechanical transmission of the disease. Use of tissue culture plants could be another alternative of combat the disease problem. Maintaining healthy nursery of own for area expansion and gap filling. Use combination of Trichoderma harzeanum and Pseudomonas florescens to control the fungal disease