Summary
The occurrence of yellow leaf spot, an enigmatic disorder in cashew, (Anacardium occidentale L.) was found to be associated with low soil pH (4.5–5.0). The affected leaves were deficient in molybdenum and had excessive amounts of manganese. Besides, the spotted leaves typically had lower levels of Kjeldahl nitrogen.
The disorder could be corrected by foliar sprays of molydenum salts or correcting the soil pH by liming. Besides the reports on the prevalence of similar malady in Florida citrus during 1950s, to our knowledge, cashew is the only tree species observed to suffer from molybdenum deficiency in the field.
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Contribution No. 314 of Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasaragod.
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Subbaiah, C.C., Manikandan, P. & Joshi, Y. Yellow leaf spot of cashew: A case of molybdenum deficiency. Plant Soil 94, 35–42 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02380588
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02380588