Fusarium wilt is very difficult to control – it spreads easily in soil, water and infected planting material.
The fungus is disseminated in infested soil, infected planting material and water including irrigation water and floods, and can remain in the soil for >40 years1.
Yam production is still mainly carried out manually by peasant farmers using yam setts as planting material.
The collection, conservation and exchange of planting material of medicinal plants are some of the major problems in this sector.
Current management strategies for preventing crown gall include planting resistant rootstock, planting in field sites without a history of grown gall, and using planting material free of pathogens.
After 1 year growing in the nursery, planting material was transferred directly to the experimental sites.
To acclimatise the seedlings to local growing conditions, planting material was stored close to planting places.
Planting material was produced from woody cuttings of 10 cultivars as shown in Table 1.
Mean tree height (Column 2), mean net new height growth is tree height less height of planting material above ground at time of planting (Column 3).
Fig. 2 Above-ground attributes of a shoot length, b shoot mass, and c planting material mass of Veronese poplar established from three planting materials.
