Peanut Bud Necrosis Disease

Muttanna Revadi, A. Srinivasaraghavan, and Gururaj Sunkad
Department of Plant Pathology, University of Agricultural Sciences
Raichur-584102, Karnataka, India
Emails: mutturevadi@gmail.com, sraghavan3682@gmail.com

Host: Arachis hypogaea L. (peanut or groundnut)
Disease name: Peanut bud necrosis disease
Pathogen name: Peanut bud necrosis virus 

Peanut bud necrosis disease (PBND) is an important disease of peanut in south and southeast Asia. It is caused by Peanut bud necrosis virus (PBNV) and vectored by Thrips palmi Karny in a propagative manner. It was first reported in India in 1949, and it became economically important during the late 1960s when incidences of up to 100% were recorded in many peanut-growing regions of the country. The primary symptom of PBND on peanut is a mild chlorotic mottle or specks on young, quadrifoliate leaves, which develop into chlorotic and necrotic rings and streaks. Necrosis from the leaf extends to the petiole and terminal bud and results in necrosis of the terminal bud. Secondary symptoms include stunting, auxiliary shoot proliferation, and malformation of leaflets. The virus can cause severe crop losses, especially when the plants are infected before they are a month old. Seeds from such plants are small, shriveled, mottled, and discolored. Plants infected at a later stage produce normal-sized seeds, but testa on such seeds are often mottled and cracked. Incidence of PBND has ranged from 5 to 80%, and yield losses of up to 50%, worth more than $89 million in India alone, have been reported.