.

November 3, 2007
Source: The Fiji Times [edited]
<http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=73552>

Increasing export demand for eggplant has prompted the Agriculture Ministry to call on local farmers to increase production. The ministry quoted the managing director of Natures Way Co-operative, Sant Kumar, as saying the current supply of eggplant was better than in the past few months. Nadi-based Natures Way helps local vegetable producers package and export their produce. Mr Kumar called on local farmers to supply quality export varieties of eggplant.

Mr Kumar said the rainy weather at the beginning of the year [2007] affected exports. Mr Kumar said rainy weather brought in diseases such as the blossom blight, which had to be treated with fungicide spraying and field sanitation. He said another common disease, thrips, needed to be treated with chemicals. He said the risk of these diseases diminished as the weather improved.

Mr Kumar emphasised that farmers needed to increase their production during the wet season so that consistency of supply was maintained throughout the year. He said eggplants should be treated under the High Temperature Forced Air facility before being exported to New Zealand.

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ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>

[Blossom blights are caused by fungal pathogens that affects the flowers (occasionally leaves and stems) of many plants. Infected flowers fail to set seed, resulting in yield loss. Spores are spread by wind and/or water droplets (rain) from nearby sources (infected crops, crop residues from past infected plants). The causal agents
seem to vary from crop to crop and in different areas.

_Botrytis_ is a filamentous fungus isolated from decaying plants. Despite its cosmopolitan feature, it is more commonly reported from tropical and temperate areas. Species in the genus affect many vegetable crops causing a range of blights and rots. They can also cause blossom blights which often precede and lead to fruit and stem
rots. Aging flower petals of beans, carrot, celery, eggplant, onion, pepper, squash, and tomato are particularly susceptible to colonisation by _Botrytis_ species, and under cool, humid conditions, abundant mycelium and conidia (spores) are produced on colonised petals. The fungi often grow from the fading flower petals into the rest of the inflorescence, or into developing fruit where it causes a blossom-end rot. From there, it can spread and destroy part or all of the fruit. It is possible that _Botrytis_ species may be responsible for the blossom blight reported here.

Thrips (insects in the order _Thysanoptera_) are pests of many crops and also vectors of some plant viruses. The species that attack eggplant are mostly active during the dry season, causing browning of leaves, especially on the lower leaf surface, and scarring of fruit.

Maps of Fiji:
<http://www.mapsouthpacific.com/fiji/index.html>  nd
<http://healthmap.org/promed?v=-18,178,5>

Pictures of thrips species:
<http://www.uoguelph.ca/debu/STEVEweb/images/Thrips.jpg> and
<http://www.uidaho.edu/so-id/entomology/thrips.jpg>

Links
Fiji government press release:
<http://www.fiji.gov.fj/publish/page_10539.shtml>
Blossom blight definition:
<http://www.usask.ca/agriculture/plantsci/vegetable/definition.htm>
_Botrytis_ blight fact sheet:
<http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/FactSheets/botrytis/botrytis_blight.htm>
_Botrytis_ blights of vegetables:
<http://www.oisat.org/pests/diseases/fungal/botrytis_blight.html> and
<http://ipm.uiuc.edu/diseases/series900/rpd942/index.html>
_Botrytis_ information:
<http://www.doctorfungus.org/thefungi/Botrytis.htm>
Genus _Botrytis_ taxonomy:
<http://www.speciesfungorum.org/Names/genusrecord.asp?RecordID=7435>
_Botrytis_ species list via:
<http://www.speciesfungorum.org/Names/Names.asp>
Eggplant diseases and pests including thrips:
<http://www.avrdc.org/LC/eggplant/eproduction/12ipm.html>
Information on thrips:
<http://www.ento.csiro.au/thysanoptera/index.html>
- Mod.DHA]

[see also in the archive:
2005
----
Mango blossom rot - India (Andhra Pradesh) 20050526.1454]

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