Bacterial Wilt
Bacterial Wilt (Pseudomonas solanacearum): This is one of the most serious diseases of tomato crop. Relatively high soil moisture and soil temperature favour disease development. Characteristic symptoms of bacterial wilt are the rapid and complete wilting of normal grown up plants. Lower leaves may drop before wilting. Pathogen is mostly confined to vascular region; in advantage cases, it may invade the cortex and pith and cause yellowbrown discolouration of tissues. Infected plant parts when cut and immersed in clear water, a white streak of bacterial ooze is seen coming out from cut ends. Control: Crop rotations, viz., cowpea-maize-cabbage, okra-cowpea-maize, maize- cowpea-maize and finger millet-egg plant are reported effective in reducing bacterial wilt of tomato.
Control: Seedling treatment with Streptocycline (1 g/40 litres of water) for 30 min protects the seedlings in the initial stages of growth.
