This blog carries a guide to tackle Anthracnose disease effectively on your pomegranate farm by deploying correct preventative measures.

The “Fruit of Paradise,” the pomegranate (Punica granatum L.), is one of the subtropical minor fruit crops with the greatest adaptability. It is recognized as an “important cash crop” in India. Maharashtra is the largest producer of pomegranates among the several states that cultivate them, accounting for two-thirds of the country’s total area, followed by Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, and Rajasthan. The crop is vulnerable to numerous fungal diseases.

Anthracnose is one of the most harmful fungi that cause pomegranate diseases out of all the other fungal diseases. Fruit quality and marketability are both impacted by Anthracnose.

Symptoms of Anthracnose in pomegranate

Depending on the tissue and climate, the fungus can produce a wide range of symptoms. Tiny sunken patches can be seen on leaves, flowers, or fruits. 

• Tiny, regular to sporadic black dots on fruits, leaves, and flowers that subsequently transform into dark brown depressed marks.
• Yellowing and wilting of infected leaves.
• These spots are frequently encircled by a more or less distinct yellow halo. On leaves, the spots can eventually spread to cover a significant portion of the blades and develop into lesions. 

• They can become yellow and prematurely shed, which causes defoliation. 
• Fruits have brown to dark brown spots that appear round initially and then turn irregular as they grow.
• Later, the fruit softens, initially turning dark grey or black, and then begins to rot. 

Anthracnose can also affect twigs and branches, causing cankers( regions of depressed, diseased tissue regions with bulging borders).

Favorable environment for the disease 

The disease is at its worst in the temperature range of 20-27 degrees, with high humidity followed by a rainy day. The disease primarily affects the pomegranate crops in the months of August and September.

Source for Anthracnose

Infected plant parts like leaves and fruits of the previous season act as a primary source, and windborne conidia act as a secondary source of infection.

General preventive measures for Anthracnose

Cultural management:

• Choose Ambe bahar or Haste.
• More space between plants with regular pruning.
• Properly discarding fruits, twigs, and leaves that are infected.
• Pruning-Infected leaves, twigs, and branches should be pruned, destroyed, or buried in the fall or winter. For the majority of trees, severe pruning of bigger diameter branches is not a good idea since it results in bushy water sprouts(which are weakly rooted in the trunk and prone to diseases like powdery mildew).
• Fertilize trees after the leaves have opened and the spring rains have stopped in order to promote vigorous development.
• Prevent irrigation systems that wet the foliage.
• Sanitation-During the growing season and in the fall, rake up fallen leaves and twigs and dispose of them. To improve airflow in the canopy and eliminate the dead and unhealthy twigs and branches from the previous season.
• Plants should be placed far apart to enhance air flow and sunlight, which, when trees are fully developed, help the leaf surfaces dry up more quickly.

Control by chemicals:

Fungicides can only protect healthy tissue and cannot eliminate existing infections. Timing and complete spray coverage are essential factors in disease prevention. As buds start to open in the spring, thoroughly spray all new growth. Before rainy seasons, apply pesticides. You may postpone this application if there are no expected rains. Additional treatments would be needed at intervals of around two weeks to preserve new growth if damp weather is predicted.

Copper sprays, systemic fungicides, and protective fungicides are the most efficient fungicides for controlling Anthracnose.

Fasal helps you identify and prevent Anthracnose on time:

One of the most hazardous fungi that can affect pomegranate crops is Anthracnose. It can potentially impact fruit quality, output, and growth negatively.

With Fasal’s technology, Anthracnose need not be a danger to the production of pomegranate. Fasal’s technology, which is based on the idea of precision agriculture, recommends solutions that are time, location, and crop-specific and customized to the exact circumstances of a particular site.

The technology reduces the risk of infection for a disease like Anthracnose. It keeps track of rainfall, humidity, temperature, canopy level forecast, and an ultra-local macro-climatic forecast to notify farmers when levels reach ideal conditions for disease development. Based on the stages of disease development and the unique characteristics of a farm, Fasal’s technology develops several management methods and suggests remedies. Our system predicts farms’ susceptibility to disease development at every step and offers ways to reduce their risks.