ABSTRACT
In February 2022, rust-like lesions were observed on commercial sugarcane cultivar N76 in the North Coast area of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (29°23'45.95"S; 31°10'3.91"E). Moderate to severe leaf symptoms were present throughout the 0.2 ha field that was planted in August 2021. The symptoms differed from those of the two sugarcane rusts commonly observed in South Africa, namely, brown rust (Puccinia melanocephala H. & P. Sydow) and tawny rust (Macruropyxis fulva L.A. Martin, S.A. McFarl. and L.A. Castl.) (Martin et al., 2017). Similar symptoms were subsequently observed on several additional cultivars in other regions of the industry. Up to five leaves were collected from each contaminated field and examined under a dissecting microscope. Uredinial lesions were orange-brown, cinnamon-brown to red-brown in colour and were 0.5 to 5 × 0.2 to 0.5 mm. Uredinia within the lesions were 300 to 820 × 28 to 40 µm, mainly hypophyllous although epiphyllous uredinia were occasionally observed on severely infected leaves. Uredinia were ellipsoid to fusiform in shape. Urediniospores were transferred to microscope slides and examined at 400x magnification. The urediniospores were morphologically similar to Puccinia kuehnii E. J. Butler, causal agent of sugarcane orange rust (Glynn et al., 2010). They were orange to cinnamon-brown in colour, mostly obovoid to pyriform in shape and moderately echinulate. They were variable in size (25 to 55 × 22 to 27 µm), most with obvious apical thickening of up to 10 µm. Inconspicuous paraphyses were occasionally present but no telia or teliospores were observed. Identity of the pathogen was confirmed using primers Pk2-F and Pk1-R, targeting the internal transcribed spacer (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) region (Glynn et al., 2010). The 384-bp sequence (GenBank Accession no: ON329808) matched 100% with P. kuehnii submissions on Genbank and was distinct from those of P. melanocephala and M. fulva. Rust symptoms observed on cultivar Co301 in South Africa from 1941 were previously reported to be caused by P. kuehnii (Gorter, 1977; Crous et al., 2000). However, the pathogen was later correctly identified as P. melanocephala (Bailey, 1979). This is therefore the first report of P. kuehnii infecting sugarcane in South Africa, after being detected periodically on a spore trap located in Komatipoort, Mpumalanga (25°33'2.83"S 31°57'22.19"E) since 2016. An Emergency Response Plan, developed in anticipation of an orange rust incursion in South Africa, guided the initial response of the industry. This included the application of a fungicide (a.i. azoxystrobin / cyproconazole) pre-emptively registered for orange rust on sugarcane in South Africa in infected fields, notification of key contacts in southern Africa, and industry-wide surveys to determine prevalence and provide an indication of varietal susceptibility. Long term management will include screening for varietal resistance and the registration of additional fungicides against the disease. Research on the conditions favouring infection will allow the inclusion of orange rust in the local sugarcane rust forecasting model, while trials to assess the effect on yield will provide an indication of the impact of the disease on production.
ABSTRACT
We examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the livelihoods of the poor in a semi-rural setting in Bangladesh. We use an unusually rich dataset which tracks the economic and financial transactions of sixty poor and very poor individuals and their families on a daily real-time basis for 12 months, from 1 October 2019 to 30 September 2020. These households for the past five years have volunteered as respondents in a 'financial diaries' study known as the 'Hrishipara Daily Diaries Project'. We use a mixed methods approach, combining qualitative case studies of five diarists with a quantitative analysis of the daily data extracted from the diaries. We document the behavioral responses to COVID-19 by individual diarists, which shows the varied experiences of the poor during the pandemic. Further, we find that the pandemic had significant negative effects on the livelihoods of the poor in our study, with financial inflows and outflows, incomes and household expenditures much below pre-pandemic levels in the pandemic period. Government lockdowns in April and May 2020 led to a sharp decline in incomes and household expenditures. While incomes and expenditures recovered in the post-lockdown period, they remained below pre-pandemic levels. Financial transactions such as borrowing, saving withdrawals and exchange of monetary gifts came to a standstill in the lockdown period, making it difficult for households to use conventional coping mechanisms in the face of a large unanticipated decline in incomes. Exploring the coping mechanisms that households used to adjust to the declines in incomes and their lack of access to formal and informal sources of finance, we find that households drew down on their cash reserves at home as well as cutting down on non-food expenditures to protect their spending on food.
