Identification of pathogen:
- Lesions - brown, slightly depressed and circular with fimbriate margins
- Dotted with minute black specks or sclerotia of the pathogen
- Organism invades only the cork cells which are destroyed and slough off forming a ‘scurf’
- Hyphae – septate, branched, hyaline and become brown with age
- Conidia- dark brown, club shaped, thick walled
- Hyphae form minute sclerotia
- Pathogen live from season to season on the affected tubers and in the soil
- Spread from diseased to healthy tubers in storage
- Use of disease free seed material
- Seed treatment- mercuric chloride - 0.1% for 30 min
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| Brown Leisons | Black dotted specks | Silver scurf |