CURRENT STATUS OF FUNGAL DISEASES OF ALMOND IN DISTRICT LORALAI AND ZIARAT

Abstract

Current research was designed to check the disease incidence (DI) of fungal diseases of almonds in different areas of district Loralai and Ziarat of province Balochistan. The villages of district Ziarat in which surveys were conducted included Inzer-gut, Short-cut, Baghao, Pasra, Regorha, Kanobai and Aghberga, while the villages of district Loralai included Pathan kot, Shah karez, Durgai, Zingi wala, Shah bozai, Mehwala, Marga and kibzai. Three surveys were conducted to record the DI of different diseases. In each village of districts, 07 orchards were selected randomly and then five corners of each orchard were selected randomly to observe different fungal diseases and record DI. These surveys were conducted during the blossoming, pre-harvest and post-harvest stages from May 2020 to April 2021. In the current research, we have presented the DI of different diseases in a percentage. Seven diseases were identified in districts Ziarat and Loralai. DI of anthracnose of almond was significantly high 35% in Ziarat and 30% in Loralai. The disease incidence of leaf rust of almonds in Ziarat was 18% and in Loralai 12%, respectively. The disease incidence of Armillaria root rot in Ziarat was 13% and same in Loralai. Alternaria leaf spot in Loralai was 9% and 3% in Ziarat; powdery mildew in Ziarat 7% and Loralai 5%; phytophthora root rot in Ziarat 6% and in Loralai 4% and green fruit rot in Ziarat 1% and Loralai it was also 1%. The present study revealed that several fungal diseases attack the almond trees cultivated in Ziarat and Loralai, and these diseases could be the hindrance in getting potential yield of almond in these two districts of Balochistan.