Abstract
Ratoon stunting, also known as ratoon stunting disease (RSD), is considered by many sugarcane pathologists to be the most important disease affecting sugarcane production worldwide, because it can cause 5% to 15% crop yield losses without growers even realizing their fields are infected. This revised 3-page fact sheet describes the symptoms, causal agent, and prevention and control. Written by P. Rott, S. Sood, J. C. Comstock, R. A. Gilbert, and H. S. Sandhu, and published by the UF Department of Agronomy, August 2014. (Photo credit: Sushma Sood, USDA)
References
Bailey, R. A., and S. A. Tough. 1992. "Ratoon stunting disease: survival of Clavibacter xyli subsp. xyli, in field soil and its spread to newly planted sugarcane." Proceedings of the Annual Congress South African Sugar Technologists' Association 66: 75-77. Comstock, J. C. 2002. "Ratoon stunting disease." Sugar Tech 4 (1-2): 1-6.
Davis, M. J., and R. A. Bailey. 2000. "Ratoon stunting." In A Guide to Sugarcane Diseases, edited by Philippe Rott, Roger A. Bailey, Jack C. Comstock, Barry J. Croft, and A. Salem Saumtally, 49-54. Montpellier: CIRAD/ISSCT, La Librairie du Cirad.
Flynn, J., G. Powell, R. Perdomo, G. Montes, K. Quebe-deaux, and J. Comstock. 2005. "Comparison of sugarcane disease incidence and yield of field-run, heat-treated, and tissue-culture based seedcane." Proceedings American Society of Sugarcane Technologists 25: 88-100.