Ziziphus Mauritiana - Pests and Diseases

Pests and Diseases

The greatest enemies of the jujube in are fruit flies. Some cultivars are more susceptible than others, the flies preferring the largest, sweetest fruits, 100% of which may be attacked while on a neighbouring tree, bearing a smaller, less-sweet type, only 2% of the crop may be damaged. The larvae pupate in the soil and it has been found that treatment of the ground beneath the tree helps reduce the problem. Control is possible with regular and effective spraying of insecticide.

A leaf-eating caterpillar and the green slug caterpillar attack the foliage. Mites forms scale-like galls on twigs retarding growth and reducing the fruit crop.Lesser pests include a small caterpillar, Meridarches scyrodes, that bores into the fruit.

The tree is subject to shrouding by a parasitic vine . Powdery mildew causes defoliation and fruit-drop, but it can be adequately controlled. Lesser diseases are sooty mould, brown rot and leaf-spot. Leafspot results from infestation by Cercospora spp. and Isariopsis indica var. zizyphi. In 1973, a witches'-broom disease caused by a mycoplasma-like organism was found in jujube plants near Poona University. It proved to be transmitted by grafting or budding diseased scions onto healthy Z. mauritiana seedlings. Leaf rust, caused by Phakopsora zizyphivulgaris, ranges from mild to severe on all commercial cultivars in the Punjab.

In storage, the fruits may be spotted by the fungi. Fruit rots are caused by Fusarium spp., Nigrospora oryzae, Epicoccum nigrum, and Glomerella cingulata.