ProMED
http://www.promedmail.org4

Source: Channel5belize [summ. Mod.DHA, edited]
https://edition.channel5belize.com/soe-in-sugar-industry-over-fusarium-disease/

A fungal disease called fusarium has led the Ministry of Agriculture to declare a state of emergency in the sugar industry. This disease is reportedly affecting 40 000 acres [16 187 ha] of sugar cane.

The Minister of Agriculture said that they are working on the details to find a way to mitigate the effects of fusarium. It has to be a whole program that will include biological control, different cropping systems, integrated crop management, new varieties, bringing in varieties from Brazil that that are resistant to fusarium. In the meantime, the new crop will begin as soon as weather improves.

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Communicated by:
ProMED

[The report above refers to pokkah boeng (PB; derived from Javanese for 'distorted') that affects sugar cane and related grasses (_Saccharum_ species and hybrids) as well as sorghum. It is considered a re-emerging disease with recent major yield losses in most sugar cane producing regions, including South Africa, Brazil, Malaysia, India and China. PB is also considered an emerging disease of sorghum in India (see links below).

The disease is caused by different members of the _Fusarium fujikuroi_ species complex, depending on the region. Symptoms vary with crop varieties and infecting fungi, but may include distortion, malformation and shortening at the top of the central shoot and on leaves; chlorosis of leaf bases; stem rot; breaks in the rind ('knife cut symptoms') which may result in stems breaking off. Disease development is favoured by warm, humid conditions.

Spores are mainly spread by air currents, but can also be transmitted with infected setts, irrigation water, splashed rain, soil and human/insect activities. Disease management may include fungicide sprays (agrochemicals, copper), phytosanitation (removal of affected plants) and use of crop varieties with reduced PB sensitivity. Antagonistic fungi in the genus _Trichoderma_ have been shown to be effective as biocontrol organisms to suppress various fungal pathogens (e.g. ProMED posts 20160317.4102576, 20151109.3779551, 20130805.1864259) and may be worth considering.

Other members of the same species complex cause bakanae (foot rot) of rice and can also affect maize (_Zea mays_; kernel rot), sorghum (_Sorghum_ spp.) and related hosts.

Pictures
PB symptoms:
https://bsppjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/cms/asset/36eec181-6e4d-403c-a9e1-6fb7b71e307f/ppa13053-fig-0003-m.jpg,
https://krex.k-state.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2097/21005/KSUL0006Claflini51745.jpg,
https://image.shutterstock.com/z/stock-photo-the-earliest-symptom-of-pokkah-boeng-in-sugarcane-is-appears-on-young-leaves-and-other-parts-of-the-1469325965.jpg,
https://media.springernature.com/lw685/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs12355-017-0552-4/MediaObjects/12355_2017_552_Fig3_HTML.jpg and
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dr_Pradeep_Kumar3/publication/236594502/figure/fig1/AS:613963104522253@1523391619651/Different-stages-of-pokkah-boeng-disease.png
_Trichoderma_ hyphens, microscopy:
https://life.nthu.edu.tw/~b831603/homework/image/background/trichoderma.jpg

Links
Information on Pokkah boeng:
https://doi.org/10.1111/ppa.13053 (incl. other hosts),
https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.73133,
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-017-0552-4,
https://doi.org/10.5423/PPJ.OA.02.2017.0029 and
https://doi.org/10.3923/ppj.2018.51.58
PB on sorghum:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cropro.2015.07.020
_F. fujikuroi_ taxonomy and synonyms:
https://www.indexfungorum.org/Names/NamesRecord.asp?RecordID=314213 and
https://www.speciesfungorum.org/Names/SynSpecies.asp?RecordID=314213
Information on _Trichoderma_ spp. and use for biocontrol:
https://biocontrol.entomology.cornell.edu/pathogens/trichoderma.php,
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-010-2632-1 and
http://benthamopen.com/contents/pdf/TOMYCJ/TOMYCJ-8-71.pdf
- Mod.DHA