March 30- Institute of Plantation Studies (IKP) had organized a Research Seminar Series 2/2023 entitled “Basal Stem Rot a Threat to Oil Palm Industry: Potential Management Techniques”, presented by Dr. Yasmeen Siddiqui, a research fellow at Laboratory of Sustainable Agronomy and Crop Protection, IKP. Dr. Yasmeen is an expert in plant pathology, postharvest pathology, and disease management. Her current research emphasizes sustainable disease management of horticultural and plantation crops which are related to basal stem rot (BSR) disease of oil palm. She also involved in bio-pesticides product development and agro-waste management through microbial degradation.

In this seminar, Dr. Yasmeen highlighted the impact of BSR in the oil palm industry and summarized the current management practices to manage the disease. She emphasized that inefficacy to control this devastating disease is due to the lack of fundamental understanding of how the pathogen establishes itself on the host and what role it plays in wood component degradation. From her research work, she concluded that phenolic acids could be used as one of the potential strategies to control BSR disease by inhibiting the stages and events of oil palm wood biodegradation due to G.boninense establishment.

Degradation of infected palm logs can be treated with formulated white rot fungus (WRF) which may reduce G.boninense infection rate.  This technique could be opted by oil palm plantations for the management of waste and reduction of Ganoderma pressure. More than 85 participants from UPM, UPMKB and other agencies including Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), Sime Darby and Sarawak Tropical Peat Research Institute successfully attended and benefited from this seminar. Watch the full video of this seminar on Facebook, Institut Kajian Perladangan:

https://www.facebook.com/100013998433271/posts/pfbid03NWeB97PFdc1v9WZPpRhWhx4d6wqzVHBv88KKHnjU45KfsB5X67ELtQePisBBJ6Nl/?mibextid=cr9u03

Date of Input: 17/04/2023 | Updated: 17/04/2023 | ainzubaidah