Button rose cultivation is hit by powdery mildew in Krishnagiri district.
V. Raja, a farmer from Kundalapatti village, near Kaveripattinam, told
The Hindu
that he lost 50 per cent of production because of the disease in the last one-and-a-half month.
He used to get 50 kg of flowers a day from his 75 cents. The selling price was Rs. 100 a kg.
T. Sundarraj, Programme Coordinator, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, told
The Hindu
that the cloudy weather with intermittent drizzling will attract leaf dandruff, resulting powdery coating on leaf surfaces.
If
severe, it might appear on stems and the flowers themselves too.
Affected leaves eventually turn yellow, then brown. Dead foliage
typically falls off the stem, though it will sometimes remain in place.
Although
not fatal to plants, powdery mildew makes the foliage unattractive and
repeated bouts of the disease will gradually weaken the plant.
To
keep the disease at bay and control spreading, the farmers should spray
a mixture of sulphur dust at 25-30kg/ha or calixin 1ml/litre is found
effective in reducing the disease incidences.
Under high incidences spraying of difenoconazole 1ml/litre is very effective, said Mr. Sundarraj.
He suggested avoiding cultivation when humidity was high.
Watering
during morning hours limits the build up of humidity in the crop in the
night and avoid high plant densities which leads to heavy infection.
V. Venkatachalam, president, Krishnagiri Horticulture Federation, told
The Hindu
that button rose was being cultivated on over 500 acres in Krishnagiri district by over 500 farmers.
The
federation was offering training to budding farmers on cultivation of
cut rose, button rose, and other horticulture products.
P.
Kaliappan, Deputy Director, Horticulture, Krishnagiri, said that the
button rose cultivation was affected in over 100 acres in the district.
The disease was vulnerable because of low temperature coupled with
humidity. When the temperature improves, it would automatically vanish.
