The Spatial Epidemiology of Jackfruit Pest and Diseases: A Review

Abstract

Jackfruit is identified as targeted produced for premium fruit and vegetable (EPP 7). Meanwhile in Johor, jackfruit is the third biggest fruit produced in 2016. Jackfruit contains a lot of benefits which certainly good for living things and have been used in various sector such as medicine, food, anti-bacterial and anti-oxidant, antifungal effect, immunomodulatory effect and else. However, the existence of pests and diseases have threatened the productivity of jackfruit plant particularly in tropical countries including Malaysia. There are many factors that can affect the occurrence of pests and plant diseases of jackfruit such as shoot borers, bark borers, mealy bug and scale insects, blossoms and fruit rots and bacterial die-back. Several studies have been devoted to model the plant pests and diseases epidemiology, though the contexts that focus in tropical environment and jackfruit plant are limited. Therefore, this paper aims to discuss abiotic factors and spatial methods that have been used to define dispersal pattern and relationship between abiotic factors including major climatic variables with plant pests and diseases occurrence data, particularly in tropical climate. This paper could be used as a basis to understand the epidemiological models in combating pest and plant disease and to support towards the effective management of jackfruit pests and diseases in tropical countries, particularly Malaysia.

The Influence of Abiotic Factors on the Occurrence of Jackfruit Dieback Disease

“…The jackfruit crop is susceptible to various diseases caused by fungal and bacterial infections affecting the leaves, branches, twigs, stems, and roots (Haq, 2006;Sabtu et al, 2019). According to Borines et al (2014), jackfruit disease incidence tends to increase during the wet season, especially in areas prone to flooding or with poor drainage.…”

“…Jackfruit dieback disease is associated with different causal pathogens, Lasiodiplodia theobromae and Erwinia coratovora. Lasiodiplodia theobromae is a fungus capable of infecting growing shoots, causing discolouration of the bark and, in severe cases, causing the death of the jackfruit tree (Haq, 2006;Sabtu et al, 2019). However, the bacteria E. carotovora is also associated with dieback disease, which infects most Artocarpus species (Love & Paull, 2011), and this causal pathogen is the focus of this study.…”

“…A study by Nadarasah and Stavrinides (2011) stated that insects are one of the intermediaries that spread plant pathogens. According to Elevitch and Manner (2006), boring insects are the major pests of jackfruit in southwestern and southern Asia; these include Batocera rufomaculata, Indarbela tetraonids, Margaronia caecalis, and Ochyromera artocarpio (Rajkumar et al, 2018;Ibrahim et al, 2022;Khan et al, 2021;Khan & Khan, 2020;Sabtu et al, 2019;). According to a survey conducted between 2013 and 2016, fifty-one insect pests were found on jackfruit in the south Indian states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamilnadu (Kallekkattil et al, 2020).…”