The use of Plain Bordeaux Mixture for the successful control of fruit rot (Mahali) of Arecanuts caused by Phytophthora Arecae (P. Palmivora)

Abstract

In a previous paper Thomas and Marudarajan (1938) discussed the importance of the fruit rot (mahali) of arecanuts in the Malabar and South Canara districts of the Madras Province and the steps that led to the initiation of field experiments. to assess the relative values of different spreaders and stickers then in vogue. The experiments conducted in. 1937-38 and recorded in that paper showed that plain Bordeaux mixture prepared by the addition of dilute copper sulphate solution to the milk of lime without using any adhesive was as effective in controlling the disease as Bordeaux mixture to which adhesives were added and that the use of resin as an adhesive to Bordeaux mixture made the mixture less effective than the others. These results were very important because they showed the possibilities for breaking an established practice of using resin Bordeaux mixture for mahali control which owing to its prolonged usage through three decades had acquired a wide popularity among the cultivators.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.29321/MAJ.10.A04532

Pages

169 - 178

Creative Commons

Copyright

© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Madras Agricultural Students' Union in Madras Agricultural Journal (MAJ). This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited by the user.

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