Fungal infection on palm trunk in situ. (top section): a review / Abdul Rahman Zamri

The importance of palm oil cannot be overstated. This has to do with the high economic return and the severe environmental effect that threatens the industry's long-term viability. Malaysia, after Indonesia, is the world's second-largest producer, reaping the advantages while also dealing with some of the issues. Malaysia oil palm is vulnerable to Ganoderma boninense caused by basal stem rot, a key source of worry for long-term sustainability. Fungus disease detection in agricultural plants is a major issue in estate management and productivity. When based just on visual symptom observation, such diagnoses are becoming increasingly time-consuming and difficult, and when based on the root or stem tissue chemical analysis, they are becoming expensive and risky. Oil palm base stem rot is the most prevalent disease of the oil palm. This is the same illness that poses a danger to Southeast Asia's oil palm crop. Investigations on the pathogen responsible for the stem rots especially on the top section have found that the basidiomycete Ganoderma boninense is the primary culprit, with G. tornatum as a minor contributor. G. tornatum has a wide range of hosts, but G. boninense appears to be limited to palm trunk. Interfertility studies between isolates obtained from oil palm basal stem rots have been used to look at the structure of G. boninense. (Siddiqui, Surendran, Paterson, et al., 2021)