Litchi Diseases

Anthracnose

Disease symptoms:

• Attacks both the leaves and the fruit, which are sensitive from
  flowering to the midgrowth stage.
• Most of the rot found in mature fruit comes from the infection of young fruit.
• The small spots develop into large, brown spots indicative of fruit rot.
• Finally, a white mycelium appears on the fruit during storage

Fruit rot

Disease symptoms:

• Fruit rot of litchi has been a serious problem. Litchi is host to a range of post-harvest pathogens, often with quite different modes of infection.
• Several fungi have been found to be associated with diseases
• Usually large water soaked lesions appear on the surface of fruits.
• Initially the disease symptoms are perceptible on injured portion of the fruits.
• With the advance of the disease the decayed areas get depressed.
• The rot gradually penetrates deep into the pulp.
• Ultimately rind of infected fruits cracks off exposing the pulp which subsequently is covered with thick Cottony mycelium.
• Such affected fruits emit an odour of fermentation.

Root rot

Disease symptoms:

• A slow decline and a sudden death of plant have been recorded in litchi. It can affect the whole tree or just one or two branches.
• The symptoms include a sudden branch wilt that is followed by the decline of new growth on the affected branch over a period. In other situations, the tips die without wilting.
• The tree or branch may recover temporarily, but subsequently dies. Parts of the tree flush and grow, while other sections die.
• In some parts of litchi belt, trees are killed by the root rot.
• One side of the tree’s crown may be perfectly sound and the other totally necrosis.
• Leaf shed never occurs (it does in the case of a nematode attack) and the internal parts of the roots are characteristically red in colour
• No method has been found to save the tree once it has become infected.