Verdant can support plantations by conducting Disease Threat Assessments, advising on Disease Prevention measures, evaluating Disease Resilience, and where necessary recommending adequate Disease Treatments.
Verdant can support plantations by conducting disease threat assessments involving an accurate census and the use of aerial photography.
The Ganoderma fungus – the most devastating oil palm disease in South-East Asia with infection rates that can kill over 50% of palms in an endemic area – causes significant yield losses in second and third generation oil palm.
Verdant can identify any disease at a very early stage through appropriate diagnosis. Some diseases, such as Ganoderma, can appear in immature and mature palms , whilst Curvularia and Antracnose can spread widely, rot the spear and cause the death of massive quantities of oil palm seedlings in the nursery.
Seedling screening trials are used to gauge the resilience/tolerance to diseases in all Verdant germplasm under environmentally controlled conditions. Such trials can be extended to cover drought tolerance and fertiliser-use efficiency.
Verdant identifies and stores pure Ganoderma isolates to be tested for virulence and used as a disease inoculum for biopesticides screening tests (e.g. Trichoderma).
Prevention of Ganoderma begins with proper disciplined land preparation to reduce disease inoculum – either for replanting or conversion – as part of an integrated disease management system. Trichoderma application efficiently helps to prevent Ganoderma incidence in new oil palm planting.
Nursery diseases are controlled by a combination of strict sanitation and where necessary chemical methods which enable plants to recover within two to four months depending on the disease severity.
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