The coconut palm is affected by a number of
diseases, some of which are lethal while others
gradually reduce the vigour of the palm causing
severe loss in yield. A brief account of the
important coconut diseases is given.
female flowers and immature nuts.
on the young fruits or buttons near stalk
which later result in decay of the
Bordeaux mixture on the crown of the palm
once before the monsoon and later after 40
destroy fallen nuts.
palms, apply Dithane M-45 in place of
Characterised by emergence of shorter leaves
with fascinated and crinkled leaves.
The leaflets show severe tip necrosis and fail
to unfurl. In many cases, it gives a choked
appearance to the frond.
Ultimately the affected palm dies.
Application of 50 g Borax at half-yearly
intervals (Feb-Mar and Sept-Oct) along with
recommended fertilizer in the basins will
control the disease when it is in the early
stage. In root wilt affected areas a dosage of
200gm - 300gm per palm per year is
blight or Grey Leaf Spot
Minute yellow spots encircled by greyish bands
appear on the surface of mature leaves of the
Later they become greyish white. These spots
coalesce into irregular necrotic patches.
Complete drying and shrivelling of the leaf
blade are common when the infection is severe.
Removal of the older 2-3 disease affected
leaves and spraying the foliage with 1%
Bordeaux Mixture will check the spread of the
First appeared in Tatipaka village of East
Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, following
a cyclone in 1949. Palms in the age group of
25 to 60 years are more susceptible.
Development of an abnormally large crown with
dark green inner leaves and higher yield is
the precursor of disease incidence.
Subsequently the crown becomes smaller in size
producing progressively shorter leaves.
The stem begins to taper. The leaves give a
fascinated appearance due to improper
unfolding of leaflets. The affected tree
produces smaller bunches with atrophied barren
The causal agent is suspected to be Phytoplasm.
of Coconut click