Plant pathology report, mission to PT SMART, 1st - 11th March 2000

This mission to PT Smart was primarily devoted to the problem of Basal Stem Rot (BSR), a lethal disease on oil palm caused by Ganoderma sp. In Indonesia, the disease is widespread in the plantations of North Sumatra. It is expressed at the end of the first generation, then increasingly early in successive generations. Padang Halaban Estate is the plantation within the Sinar Mas group that is suffering the severest BSR damage. True losses are difficult to evaluate with precision, since no disease records have been kept since 1990. Partial observations during the mission indicate that the BSR rate exceeds 50% in the blocks planted in the 1980s. The priority task is therefore to take stock of the situation through palm-by-palm records and disease mapping, beginning in blocks due to be replanted in the coming years. Such a record will enable more effective yield forecasting, but it will also be possible to set up trials in a known environment. PT Smart is already investing in BSR research. It is primarily geared nowadays towards biological control of the disease using biological fungicides based on Trichoderma spp., and particularly T. koningii. Culturing of the pathogen and its antagonist in the laboratory is now a routine practice at Libo Research. In order to establish an integrated control method against BSR, research should not rule out the possibilities of screening for resistance to Ganoderma, or cultural practices that slow down disease development. Proposals are made in this report. Some, notably those concerning cultural techniques, will need to be completed in line with the records compiled. The situation and proposals could therefore be redefined during a second mission that could take place before the end of the year. (Résumé d'auteur