Identification Symptoms

  • The leaf curl is characterised by severe stunting of the plants with downward rolling and crinkling of the leaves.
  • Partial or complete sterility of the plant is also common.
  • Newly formed leaves show chlorosis. The older, curled leaves become leathery and brittle.
  • Plants are stunted due to shortening of the internodes.
  • Diseased plants look pale and produce more lateral branches resulting in bushy growth.
  • The disease is transmitted by the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci.
  • Total losses is in between 17.6% to 99.7%.
  • 92.3% loss when infection occurred at 30 days after transplanting.
  • The yield reductions were 94.9, 90.0, 78.0, and 10.8% when plants got infected in 2, 4, 6, and 10 weeks after planting