Poothadi: The spread of infections in agricultural crops is shattering the hopes of farmer community in Wayanad. After ginger cultivation suffered widespread losses due to a viral infection, pepper and areca nut plants have now come under threat from a fast-spreading yellowing disease, leaving them on the brink of complete destruction.

With the monsoon easing slightly, reports of yellowing disease in the region’s pepper vines are surfacing . The intensity of the disease this time is as widespread as in previous years. Alarmingly, the disease is affecting both newly planted pepper vines and mature plantations. Traditionally, the problem appeared a couple of months after the rains subsided, but this year it has struck immediately after the showers have weakened.

Once infected, the leaves of pepper vines gradually turn yellow before falling off. The shoots also begin to drop, followed by the drying of the vine’s tips, eventually leading to the death of the entire plant. The disease is spreading rapidly from one vine to another, destroying them even before the pepper stems have begun to sprout, dealing a devastating blow to farmers.

The yellowing disease is attributed to a fungal infection, compounded by the attack of root-feeding roundworms. These worms suck sap from the vine’s roots, weakening them and hastening destruction. Most of the pepper plantations affected by the disease are located across the Panamaram, Poothadi and Kaniyampatta panchayats.