Identification Symptoms

Symptoms include yellowing of leaves and shedding of both matured and immature nuts. Endosperms of diseased nuts are soft, blackish and not suitable for consumption.
Yellowing at the tips of leaf lets in 2or3 leaves of the outermost whorl is the first visible symptom.
Brown, necrotic streaks run parallel to lamina in unfolded leaves, with the development of leaves, yellowing starts form the tips of leaflets, gradually extending to the middle of the lamina.
One or two leaflets in any of the crown or the entire foliage may be affected by the disease. Tips of the chlorotic leaves eventually dry up.
In advanced stages, leaves are reduced in size, stiff and pointed, closely bunched and puckered. Finally the crown falls off leaving of are base trunk.
Root tips turn dark and gradually rot. Production of lateral root is reduced
Affected fruits fall off. Some of the palms exhibiting foliar yellowing may produce normal nuts and all nuts in the bunch may not show kernel discoloration.
Blocking of xylem vessels of older leaves of diseased palms, degeneration of cortex and presence of tyloses in xylem are also noticed in diseased roots.