COFFEE - Diseases of Fruit Crops in Australia - page 120

Fig 7.2 Cercospora spot on coffee berries.

Management
•

Nursery: arrange plants to allow adequate air movement,
improve plant nutrition, ensure correct sunlight and
apply recommended fungicides as necessary.

Field: improve plant nutrition and apply recommended
fungicides.

•

Fig 7.3 Cercospora spot on coffee berries showing dark lesions.

COFFEE LEAF RUST - BIOSECURITY THREAT

Cause
The fungus Hemileia vastatrix .

Symptoms
Lesions start as chlorotic or pale yellow spots, which
develop into yellow-orange powdery lesions on the
underside of leaves.

Source of infection and spread
Long-distance dispersal of the spores of the fungus is
by wind or on plant material. Wind and rain splash
may spread the fungus over short distances. Spores
require free water for germination and the optimum

Fig 7.5 Severe coffee rust on a leaf.

temperatures for disease development are 22-28 C.

High-yielding plants are more susceptible to infection.

°

Importance
Coffee leaf rust is not present in Australia and it is of
significant quarantine concern. In places where this disease
is present, it causes major losses through defoliation and

Fig 7.4 Coffee leaf rust on the upper side (left) and underside (right)
of a coffee leaf.