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Pineapple disease

Ceratocystis paradoxa
Also commonly known as pineapple sett rot, pineapple disease is a very significant fungal disease of sugarcane, occurring in all sugarcane growing regions of Australia. It is the main disease which affects the germination of buds in plant material. In addition to sugarcane, pineapple disease has a number of hosts including pineapples, sweet potatoes, potatoes, bananas, plantain and mangoes.
 
Bayer default disease

Description

In sugarcane, pineapple disease causes reddening of the internal set tissues, with black centres which contain spores. It differs from the minor disease fusarium sett rot, which has a more purple colouration without the black centres and doesn’t have a pineapple smell in freshly split affected setts like pineapple disease does.

Pineapple disease is soil-borne and cold, dry or wet soil conditions which slow the germination of the sugarcane, favour its development. The spores can be carried over from one season to the next via stubble and billets from previous crops. The fungus enters the plant from either the end of the sett or damaged parts of the sett. 

Control

To effectively manage pineapple disease, it is recommended each sett is thoroughly covered with a registered fungicide as well as implementing some preventative measures including;

  • Plant when conditions favour rapid germination and soil temperatures are above 18 °C

  • Use two or three bud setts which act as a barrier helping to slow the spread of the fungus into the sett

  • Use a rotational crop or fallow between sugarcane crops to reduce the spore population in the soil

  • Ensuring harvesting blades are sharp to give clean cuts and prevent the cracking of setts which can be an entry point for the fungi

  • Ensure good soil-sett contact

  • If using fungicide dip-type planters, clean the tank regularly to minimise contamination of the fungicide with soil.


Bayfidan® is registered for the control of pineapple disease in sugarcane while Serenade® Prime is registered for suppression only of pineapple disease in sugarcane.

Related Products

Serenade Prime

References

CABI international (2019), ‘Invasive Species Compendium: Ceratocystis paradoxa (black rot of pineapple) Datasheet’,
https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/12157

Magarey, R (2019), ‘Field Guide Diseases of Australian Sugarcane’, Sugar Research Australia Limited, https://sugarresearch.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Diseases-of-Australian-Sugarcane_Fieldguide_2019_Web.pdf

Jackson, G (2017), ‘Pineapple black rot (190)’, Pacific Pests and Pathogens – Fact Sheets, Pestnet,
http://www.pestnet.org/fact_sheets/pineapple_black_rot_190.htm

Sugar Research Australia (2013), ‘Sett rot diseases Information Sheet’, 
https://sugarresearch.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Sett-rot-diseases-IS13100.pdf