Prevention is the key to management of canker diseases. Canker pathogens can be difficult to eradicate once the infection process has started. PLANT DISEASE CONTROL is pre-occupied with pathogens that infect foliage and fruit although those attackingthe bark and wood are altogether more economically damaging, especially in the longer term. With the right treatment, trees will usually recover quickly from foliar infection and live to crop in the following season or year, but not so trees suffering from untreated stem canker diseases. These diseases can kill mature fruit bearing trees by girdling the trunk to wipe out years of investment and future yield. Phytophthora, a fungal like pathogen belonging to the Oomycetes and now regarded as closer to the algae than the true fungi, is by far the most important canker-causing pathogen in the tropics.
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