Current Knowledge, Management Techniques And Areas Of Future Work For Major Coconut Diseases In Indonesia
The majority of coconut cultivation in Indonesia is carried out by smallholders and to accelerate the developmen t as well as to increase the national production, the government has given high priority to smallholding development. Since the introduction of hybrid coconuts into various are as, diseases have become main constraints. a num ber of It seems also th a t local tall coconuts are affected by similar diseases. Imprortant coconut diseases, now occur nationwide, are budrot, nutfall, stem bleeding and leaf spot diseases as well as diseases of unknown etiology in certain areas. Hybrid coconuts are unfortunately very susceptible to many kinds of disease. Budrot and nutfall diseases have been causing large number of coconut losses in the last eight years and are still destructive . The spread of such diseases can be minimized or prevented by adopting integrated control methods comprising sanitation, quarantine enforcement, agricultural practices and fungicide application. Stem bleeding and leaf spot diseases are common in Indonesia, how ever in c ertain conditions they may become very destructive, particularly to hybrid and dwarf, coconuts. The control of the diseases has never been successful and sanitation and fungicides are still the main choice. The diseases of unknown etiology are still spreading and active in certain areas. The only control measure suggested is the quarantine procedure. The search for possible resistant varieties is expected to be the most promising solution to the problems. Collaboration among the members of coconut growing countries in various aspects of research would give more efficient, successful and beneficial results in solving the disease problems in the future