Pathogenecity of Cameroon strains of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. elaeidis : The causal agent of oil palm vascular wilt.

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Diseases are among the major causes of production losses in oil palm plantations. In Cameroon, certain soils of oil palm plantations are infested by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. elaeidis, a soil borne fungus, causal agent of oil palm vascular wilt. The vascular wilt leads to the death or unproductiveness of oil palm. The magnitude of yield losses varies from one plantation to another. Hence, 20 strains of F. oxysporum were isolated: 19 from the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) vascular wilted blocks in the South West province and 1 from the Société Camerounaise des Palmeraies (SOCAPALM) Dibombari's block in the Littoral province. This study was aimed at assessing the pathogenecity of the strains. Two-month-old pre-nursery seedlings were inoculated with 5 x 10(6) spores from each strain. They were splitted 8 months after inoculation to record internal symptoms of vascular wilt. The percentage of seedlings attacked varied widely from 0 percent to nearly 50 percent (mean18 percent). With regard to the variability in the pathogenecity of the strains studied, further work would consist of searching for the most aggressive among the 20 strains for the screening of oil palm planting materials to be supplied to oil palm growers in Cameroon.