Diseases of Turnip
1.Alternaria Leaf Spot: Alternaria spp.
Symptoms
The pathogen affects leaves, stem, pods and seeds. Symptoms of the disease first appear on the leaves of seed stem in the form of small, yellowish, slightly raised lesions. Lesions appear later on the stems and seed pods. Infection spreads rapidly during rainy weather, and the entire pod may be so infected that the styler end becomes black and shrivelled. The fungus penetrates in pod tissues, ultimately infecting the seeds. The infected seed fails to germinate.
Pathogen
The fungal hyphae are branched, septate, inter and intracellular. Conidiophores arise singly or in groups of 2 to 12. They are simple, erect, cylindrical, slightly swollen at base, septate, pale, smooth and 90 x 5 to 8 mm. Conidia are formed in chains of 20 or more. They are cylindrical, muriform, tapering slightly towards the apex and the basal cell is rounded.
Mode of Spread and Survival
Pathogens are seed borne or the conidia are borne abundantly in moist atmosphere and are disseminated readily by air currents.
Management
Spraying with Mancozeb 0.25 %
