DISEASES OF GROUNDNUT IN THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY (SADC) REGION AND THEIR MANAGEMENT

Groundnut is an important food and cash crop in the Southern African D evelopment Community (SADC) region, and is grown largely by smallholde r farmers under low input conditions. Constraints are many and varied, both between and within the member states, but diseases are generally regarded as major constraints to groundnut production throughout the region. A large number of fungal, viral, nematode, and bacterial disea ses of groundnut have been reported. Most of the diseases are widespre ad, but only a few of them are economically important on a regional ba sis. In this paper, the current distribution and economic importance o f leaf spots, web blotch, rust, gray mould, pod rots, blackhull, Scler otinia blight, stem rot, seedling diseases, aflatoxin contamination, r osette, groundnut streak necrosis, pod nematode, and pod scab nematode diseases, and various options (chemical control, host-plant resistanc e and cultural practices) for their management, are briefly reviewed. Future research needs on groundnut diseases in the region are discusse d.