Phytophthora diseases of durian, and durian-decline syndrome in northern Queensland, Australia

Abstract

Durian is the most popular fruit in Southeast Asia, with high economic and cultural value to the producing countries, which include Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The greatest threat to durian production in all countries is Phytophthora palmivora, which affects all stages of the cropping cycle. This chapter describes the diseases caused by P. palmivora, and their epidemiology. The chapter also describes a perplexing durian-decline syndrome which occurs in northern Queensland, where it appears that P. palmivora is operating in a complex with Pythium vexans and nematodes from the Xiphenema genus. Early control recommendations and their limitations are described, which leads to a discussion of integrated disease management principles and their applicability to the control of phytophthora diseases in durian.