Ear rots (Gibberella zeae / G. fujikuroi)
Characteristic symptoms include pink to brick-red colour on ears, husks and kernels. The fungi often gain entrance to the ears through channels made by earworms and borers. Bird damage to the ears also facilitates disease infection.
Symptoms
Roots: dry rot.
Seedlings: blight and subsequent death of the seedling.
Leaves: leaves become a dull green colour when rots and stalks are infected early.
Stalks: lesions are a dark brown to black colour in which black perithecia may be produced near the lower nodes. The pith is shredded and is pink to red in colouration.
Ears: the fungus infects the ear via the silk channel and causes a red rot of the kernels from the tip of the ear. This may spread over the whole ear.
- Use resistant varieties if available
- Manage pests attacking the ears.
