H.Soepena, R.Y.Purbaand S.Pawirosukarto - the-eye.eu · Trichoderma spp. and Gliocladium sp. have been developed and a strategy for management of the disease using a biofungicide

Control Strategy for Basal Stem Rot on Oil PalmH. Soepena et al.6

6A Control Strategy for BasalStem Rot (Ganoderma) on OilPalm

H. Soepena, R.Y. Purba and S. Pawirosukarto

Indonesian Oil Palm Research Institute (IOPRI), Jl. BrigjenKatamso 51, Medan, Indonesia

Introduction

Basal stem rot (BSR) caused by Ganoderma boninense Pat. is the mostdestructive disease of oil palm in South-East Asia (Khairudin, 1993). Thedisease can infect all stages of the oil-palm plants. The disease progressesslowly but every infected plant usually dies. In the early stages of infectionplants usually appear symptomless and the symptoms appear only when theplant is severely infected, so plants with severe symptoms are unable to besaved. The disease is considered to be spread from plant to plant through rootconnections, although long-range disease dissemination, with spores spreadby wind, has also been considered (Sanderson et al., this volume). Repeatedpalm replanting on the same area has led to an increase in BSR diseaseincidence, which increases from one generation to another.

To date there is no adequate control for BSR in the field. No appropriatefungicide is available for effective control of BSR and no genetic resistance tothe disease has been described in Elaeis guineensis Jacq. (Möller and Schultz,1997). Cultural control techniques have little effect on the control of BSR,because the pathogen can survive in the soil for several years (Soepena,1996). BSR causes a decrease in all palm stands and reduces yield rapidly, sothat production is uneconomic. Thus, biological control methods usingTrichoderma spp. and Gliocladium sp. have been developed and a strategy formanagement of the disease using a biofungicide is reported here.

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Oil-palm Basal Stem Rot (Ganoderma Stem Rot)

The causal agent of BSR

The causal agent of BSR on oil palms is G. boninense Pat. Fruiting bodies ofGanoderma collected from some oil-palm estates in Malaysia (Ho and Nawawi,1985) and North Sumatra (Abadi, 1987) have been identified as G. boninense.Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) have confirmed specimens ofGanoderma from North Sumatra as G. boninense (Utomo, 1997).

Ganoderma is a saprophytic soil inhabitant, indigenous to the tropicalrainforest, but under some circumstances it can become pathogenic. Speciesof Ganoderma have a wide host range – more than 44 species from 34 genera ofplants have been identified as potential hosts (Venkatarayan, 1936), includingcoconut and oil palm, which are the main source of infection of Ganodermastem rot in oil palms (Hasan and Turner, 1998).

The disease symptoms

G. boninense can infect all stages of oil palm, from seedling to old palms. Palmsinfected early in their life cycle can remain symptomless, the symptoms onlybecoming clear after the palms are more than 12 years old (Lubis, 1992), butin the second and third replantings the symptoms can appear as early as 1–2years after planting in the field.

Ganoderma infection on seedlings or young palms usually occurs on rootsand is followed by the spread of infection into the base of the bole (Fig. 6.1).External symptoms include a chlorosis of newly emerging leaves or partiallydead old fronds. Disease symptoms on the old palms is clearer, the appearanceof a number of spear leaves and collapse of old fronds are the main symptoms(Fig. 6.2).

Basal Stem Rot Control Management

BSR control strategy

BSR could be managed satisfactory if the source of infection of Ganoderma couldbe completely destroyed. Thus management of BSR in oil-palm replantingareas should be based upon the following strategy: (i) use of uninfectedsoil in polybags to grow seedlings; (ii) prevention of infection in younggrowing palms; (iii) eradication of all sources of Ganoderma in the field; and(iv) application of biofungicides (Trichoderma spp.).

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Early warning system

Although biofungicide treatments are given to all growing plants, specialattention must be given to emerging disease symptoms, especially for the first5 years. Disease symptoms should be evaluated twice a year and diseaseincidence should be reported. An application of further biofungicide is made assoon as possible, or severely infected and dead plants are removed, the plantinghole treated with biofungicide and healthy seedlings replanted.

Biological control method for Ganoderma

Ganoderma has many natural antagonists, such as Trichoderma spp.,Actinomycetes sp. and Bacillus spp. (Abadi, 1987; Soepena and Purba, 1998).Trichoderma spp. are usually found as saprophytic soil inhabitants, butsome of them have been successfully selected as antagonists to Ganoderma(Dharmaputra, 1989; Soepena et al., 1999). Trichoderma koningii Oud. IsolateMarihat (MR14) is one of the most powerful antagonists against Ganodermaand has been formulated as the active ingredient in a biofungicide (Soepenaand Purba, 1998). Other species, such as Trichoderma viride, Trichoderma

Control Strategy for Basal Stem Rot on Oil Palm 85


Fig. 6.1. Ganoderma-infected seed-ling: note the rotten tissue on the baseof the bole.

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harzianum and Gliocladium virens have also been used as biological controlagents against Ganoderma, but these species are better for decomposing organicmaterial in fields. A combination of antagonistic and saprophytic fungi isvery useful for destroying Ganoderma propagules and decomposing oil-palmresidues in windrows.

The biofungicide contains 5–8 × 106 conidia and chlamydospores ofT. koningii per gram of product in a natural medium.

Application of the biofungicide

Trichoderma survives as chlamydospores under unfavourable conditions,and most of these are resistant to many kinds of chemical pesticides, such asorganochlorines, organosulphides, organophosphites and bromides, and her-bicides (Eveleigh, 1985). However, Trichoderma also requires water for growth,so the Trichoderma biofungicide is applied at the beginning or end of the rainyseason. The dose of the biofungicide depends on the size of the palms.



Fig. 6.2. The main symptoms of Ganoderma disease on an old oil palm: note theaccumulation of spear leaves and collapse of old fronds.



Preventative treatmentsSeedlings grown in polybags can be infected by Ganoderma from infected soil, sosoil taken from disease-free areas should be used and the seedlings treated withTrichoderma biofungicide by spreading it on the surface of the polybag. This willhelp to eradicate any inoculum and will protect the seedlings after planting inthe field. Planting holes in heavily infected areas must also be treated withTrichoderma biofungicide prior to planting a seedling, to help eradicate theinoculum in the soil and protect newly growing palms. The biofungicide canalso be applied to oil-palm trunks in windrows in order to eradicate Ganodermapropagules and increase decomposition. Young palms should be treatedannually for 5 years.

Curative treatmentsIn addition to preventative treatment, newly infected plants can be treatedwith Trichoderma biofungicide. The biofungicide can be injected into the base ofthe bole of infected plants using soil injection: 3 holes are made under the baseof the bole of the infected plant with a soil auger, and the biofungicide can beapplied. This method can be used for special palms, such as highly productiveor mother plants. Surgery to remove rotten tissue can also be conducted onthese special palms in conjunction with application of the biofungicide to theaffected areas.

Field sanitation

It is very important to keep the oil-palm plantations free from sources of thepathogen, so good field sanitation is essential. All infected plant materialsshould be treated with Trichoderma biofungicide.

References

Abadi, A.L. (1987) Biologi Ganoderma boninense Pat. Pada kelapa sawit (Elaeisguineensis Jacq.) dan pengaruh beberapa mikroba tanah antagonistik terhadappertumbuhannya. PhD thesis, IPB, Bogor.

Dharmaputra, O.S. (1989) Fungi antagonistik terhadap Ganoderma boninensePat. Penyebab busuk pangkal batang pada kelapa sawit di Adolina. Laporantahunan Kerjasama Penelitian PP Marihat-BIOTROP, SEAMEO BIOTROP, Bogor,pp. 28–43.

Eveleigh, D.E. (1985) Trichoderma. In: Demain, A.L. and Solomon, N.A. (eds) Biology ofIndustrial Microorganisms. Benjamin Cunning, London, pp. 487–509.

Hasan, Y. and Turner, P.D. (1998) The comparative importance of different oil palmtissue as infection source for BSR in replantings. The Planter 74(864), 119–135.

Ho, Y.W. and Nawawi, A. (1985) Ganoderma boninense Pat. From basal stem rot of oilpalm in Peninsular Malaysia. Pertanika 8, 425–428.

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Khairudin, H. (1993) Basal stem rot of oil palm caused by Ganoderma boninense. Anupdate. PORIM, International Palm Oil Congress, Update and Vision. PORIM,Kuala Lumpur, pp. 739–749.

Lubis, A.U. (1992) Kelapa Sawit (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) di Indonesia. Pusat PenelitianPerkebunan Marihat-Bandar Kuala, Pematang Siantar, Sumatera Utara.

Möller, C. and Schultz, C. (1997) Biotechnological Applications for Oil Palm Improvement.Proceedings of the BTIG Workshop on Oil Palm Improvement through Biotechnol-ogy, pp. 14–26.

Soepena, H. (1996) Serangan penyakit Ganoderma pada kelapa sawit di kebun PadangHalaban. Pusat Penelitian Karet, Sungei Putih.

Soepena, H. and Purba, R.Y. (1998) Biological Control Strategy for Basal Stem Rot on OilPalm. International Workshop on Ganoderma Diseases of Perenial Crops. MARDITraining Centre, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

Soepena, H., Purba, R.Y. and Pawirosukarto, S. (1999) Pedoman Teknis PengendalianGanoderma. Pusat Penelitian Kelapa Sawit, (IOPRI) Medan.

Utomo, Ch. (1997) Early Detection of Ganoderma in oil palm by ELISA technique. MScthesis, Institute of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Faculty of Agriculture, GeorgeAugust University, Germany.

Venkatarayan, S.V. (1936) The biology of Ganoderma lucidum on areca and coconutpalms. Phytopathology 26, 153–175.



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H.Soepena, R.Y.Purbaand S.Pawirosukarto - the-eye.eu · Trichoderma spp. and Gliocladium sp. have been developed and a strategy for management of the disease using a biofungicide