PAPAYA

Name of the diesease	Symptoms	Control Measures
POWDERY MILDEW	White powdery growth appear on both surfaces of leaves. White stranded patches appear on fruits. Young infected leaves dry up prematurely and drop down which result in severe yield loss. Disease is favoured by high relative humidity, moderate temperature and cloudy weather	Sulfex (0.2%) or Wettasul (0.2%) or Bavistin (0.1%) are effective.
FOOT AND STEM ROT	Water soaked lesions appear on the bark just above the ground level. Simultaneously terminal leaves become yellow, drop and fall off. Fruits shrivel and drop. Roots deteriorate and decay. Stem is girdled at the base.	: 1. Use well drained fields. 2. Remove diseased plants. 3. Drench with Emissan (0.2%) or Ridomil (0.1%) or Calixin (0.1%) or Daconil (0.2%). Apply copper fungicides at the collar region
DAMPING OFF	Causes post-emergence mortalities of the seedlings. It is more severe during rainy season.	1. Avoid low lying areas for nursery. 2. Sterilize soil with 2% formaldehyde before sowing the seeds. 3. Treat seeds with Ceresan dry, Captan, Daconil, Brassicol or Ridomil.
ANTHRACNOSE	: : The spots first appear as brown superficial discolouration of the skin which develop into circular, slightly sunken areas; 1-3 cm in diameter. Gradually the lesions coalesce and sparse mycelial growth often appears on the margins of such spots. Under humid conditions an encrustation of salmon pink spores are released. Infection at early stage of fruit growth results in mummification and deformation. Necrotic spots are produced on leaves and stems are produced on leaves and stems. Profuse fungal growth in the form of errupted acervuli in concentric rings are seen on petioles.	Field spraying of Bavistin or JK Stein or Topsin -M @ 01% at 20 days intervals or Dithane M-45 or Daconil (0.2%) at 10 days intervals are recommended. Two sprays of systemic or 4 sprays of non-systemic fungicides are enough to control the disease. The fast spray should be given 10 days before harvesting.
PAPAYA LEAF CURL	Severe curling, crinkling and distortion of leaves accompanied by vein clearing and reduction of leaf size. Inverted cups are formed due to inward and downward curling of leaves. Petioles get twisted.	1) Disease spread can be checked by controlling the vector by spraying insecticides periodically. 2) Collateral hosts of the virus like tomato, tobacco, cape gooseberry and Zinnia should also be avoided in the near vicinity of papaya.
PAPAYA MOSAIC	The important symptoms of the disease are profuse mottling of leaves, puckering, chlorotic and malformed leaves, increase in number of lobes, constrictions, and elongated water soaked areas on stem and petioles, few and small fruits. Some strains induce vein clearing and vein-banding.	1. Rouguing of infected plants. 2. Carica cauliflora has been reported resistant to papaya mosaic. Experimental transmission has been checked by means of oil sprays..