Symptoms

The most characteristics symptom of the disease is the drying up of the canes, which when split open will show characteristic red colouration of the internal tissues with horizontal white patches and typical foul smell. 

Management

The disease is mainly transmitted through infected setts and flowing water and can be checked by prophylactic means which are given below

• Affected crop should be harvested as early as possible to prevent loss in yield and deterioration in quality and also to arrest further spread of the disease. The crop residues should be completely burnt after harvesting.
• When infection is noticed in the field, the affected clumbs should be uprooted and burnt promptly.
• Infected crop should never be ratooned.
• Water should not be let into a healthy crop from diseased areas and as far as possible, the field may kept free of standing water by providing drainage channels.
• In severely affected areas sugarcane should not be cultivated at least for one season during which paddy and tapioca can be cultivated.
• Seed setts should not be collected from diseased crops and from diseased areas.
• Movement of seed materials from diseased to healthy areas should be strictly quarantined.
• Cultivate red rot resistant varieties.
• To control the fungal diseases, in general, dip the cut ends of setts in any of the copper based fungicide solution before planting;

Other transmissible diseases like grassy shoot, ratoon stunting, etc. can be controlled by heat treatment and by implementing three tier seed programme.