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BAMBOO
BLIGHT- A POTENTIAL THREAT TO Bambusa balcooa PLANTATION
IN ASSAM
Rajib Kumar Borah
Divn. of Forest Protection
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Bamboo is an integral part of culture of North-Eastern
region of India. Bambusa balcooa, one of the commercial
bamboo, has great repute as a durable strong bamboo in
Brahmaputra valley of Assam. Bamboo blight, a disease
of the culm, was observed both in plantations and natural
stands of B.balcooa surveyed in the four districts viz.
Sonitpur ,Lakhimpur, Jorhat and Sibsagar during 1993-1996.
The affected culm dies back as it emerges out of the ground
or shortly after extension has completed. The drying of
culm starts from top and travels downwards. The first
sign of the blight is the premature death of culm sheath
which can be easily removed. This is followed by rot and
partial collapse of the fragile apical region. Wet rotten
patches develop on the internodes, often associated with
dipterous larvae. This necrotic ( dead) areas spread rapidly
in the tender culm and the apical region dies. In case
of blight attack of fully extended culm, normally it is
confined to a quarter of the length of the culm. Die-back
from blight has ocasionally been observed in culm branches.
Sometimes, advancing zone of infection develops a well
demarcated reddish orange color on the rind of the culm.
Under the rind or cuticle the culm tissue turns reddish
brown. The more advanced infected culm turns brownish
grey and dries up. Attempts to isolate fungi from early
blight symptoms of B. balcooa yielded most dominantly
Fusarium equisetii (Corda) Sacc. Pathogenicity of the
fungus was confirmed by infecting healthy culms with the
isolated fungus. The humidity and high temperature during
monsoon enhances the susceptibility of the infection.
The bamboo clumps near the river or canal are more prone
to the disease. Although the progress of the disease is
noticeably slow, in case of severe infestation, the entire
clump will be of no use other than fuelwood. Bamboo blight,
causing complete or partial death of growing or fully
grown culm mainly of B. balcooa is the first report from
India. Detailed investigation on epidemiology of the disease
and control measures are needed.
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Copyright
© RFRI, 2002
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Re-Designed
by: Himanshu Mishra & Santanu Saikia
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