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Rootwilt claims heavy toll of Kerala coconuts

Our Bureau

KOCHI, June 20

THE loss due to rootwilt disease in coconut palms in Kerala amounts to 968 million nuts per annum with palms in about 4.1 lakh hectares in the eight southern districts affected.

As a result, the loss of husk per nut was 25.8 per cent, while that of copra and coconut oil per nut was 9.08 and 11.3 per cent, respectively. Nearly 60 per cent of the leaves were found damaged due to the disease, according to Dr. P.K. Koshy, Head of th e Central Plantation Crop Research Institute's (CPCRI) regional station at Kayamkulam in Alappuzha district.

He said the decline in yield was to the tune of 45 per cent in West Coast Tall variety and 60 per cent in DxT hybrids due to the delayed onset of bearing in seedlings that took up the infection.

Besides, 16 to 40 per cent of the palms in rootwilt affected area developed leaf rot. But information on the loss due to leaf rot alone was not available nor was it possible to estimate since it was always associated with rootwilt. However, the loss due to leaf rot was estimated to be 461 million nuts annually.

Dr. Koshy said leaf rot was responsible for the reduction in photosynthetic area, disfiguration of the palm and reduction in yield. Therefore, an easy and effective and economic control for leaf rot was the most important factor in root wilt disease mana gement.

According to him, Shengottai, Pollachi and Cumbum areas in Tamil Nadu had been affected by rootwilt and the connected leaf rot diseases.

Kerala has a total area of around 10 lakh hectares under coconut and its share in the production of coconut is about 40 per cent. The productivity has declined to less than 6,000 nuts per hectare. Tamil Nadu with 17 per cent share in area (over three lak h hectares) produced over 5,000 million nuts at a productivity rate of around 15,000 nuts per hectare.