Natural and induced resistance to shoot-rot in the coconut

Summary

Observations on the varieties of the coconut collected from the different parts of the world and grown at the Agricultural Research Station, Pilicode (District: South Kanara), showed that the precentage of infections varied from 37—the lowest in a variety from the Philippines—to 87 in a variety from Mysore.

The disease occurs largely among the palms of three to nine years of age, and thereafter the trees are generally less susceptible to the disease. The susceptibility to the disease is more pronounced in the trees planted on the surface, than in the trees planted at a depth of three feet. The incidence of disease is considerably reduced when potassium sulphate is applied to the soil. The bearing of these observations on the subject of natural and induced resistance to the disease is discussed.