Incidence and severity of major fungal diseases on tomato in three districts within the forest and forest-savannah agro-ecological zones of Ghana

Abstract

This study was initiated to determine the incidence and severity of fungal diseases of tomatoes and document farmers’ knowledge of these diseases and their control measures in Offinso North, Techiman North and Asante Akim North Districts within the forest and forest-savannah agro-ecological zones of Ghana. A survey was conducted in three selected communities in each district to document the incidence and severity of fungal diseases of tomato and also farmers’ knowledge of fungal diseases of tomato and control practices adopted on their farms using a well-structured questionnaire. Early blight, Septoria leaf spot, Fusarium wilt, Crown rot and Sclerotium rot were the major fungal diseases identified in the study. The mean incidence of diseases recorded for the districts was low with the exception of early blight with an incidence of 63.9% at Asante Akim North District. Though the mean fungal disease severities in the three districts were also low, the highest score was recorded by early blight and fusarium wilt in the Asante Akim North District and fusarium wilt and sclerotium rot in the Offinso North District. In general, farmers had perceived knowledge of the tomato diseases because of losses that these diseases caused, but their knowledge on control was poor.