Identification Symptoms

The disease causes serious losses to young shoots, flowers and fruits It is also affects fruits during storage.

The disease produces leaf spot, blossom blight, wither tip, twig blight and fruit rot symptoms. Tender shoots and foliage are easily affected which ultimately cause „die back‟ of young branches. Older twigs may also be infected through wounds which in severe cases may be fatal.

Depending on the prevailing weather conditions blossom blight may vary in severity from slight to a heavy infection of the panicles. Black spots develop on panicles as well as on fruits. Severe infection destroys the entire inflorescence resulting in no setting of fruits. Young infected fruits develop black spots, shrivel and drop off.

Fruits infected at mature stage carry the fungus into storage and cause considerable loss during storage, transit and marketing.