The basal stem rot (BSR) disease of oil palm is widespread, occuring in major oil palm-growing regions of the world. The disease is caused by a few species of Ganoderma, a basidiomycete fungus (Idris et al., 2000a, b). The effects of Ganoderma infection on productivity decline in oil palm corps have been of considerable concern ever since the replanting of oil palm began in Southeast Asia, especially in Malaysia and Indonesia. BSR disease outbreak in oil palm naturally infected by Ganoderma can be monitored using geostatiscal techniques. Geostatistical techniques, originally developed for use in mining, have also been applied in plant pathology to quantitatively characterize the spatial patterns of disease or a pathogen population in space and over time. The study of spatial and temporal patterns can provide quantitative information on population dynamics, aid in the design of epidemiological studies and of sampling programmes for disease or pathogen monitoring, and can be used to generate hypotheses about underlying ecological process. 

Main Research: Dr Idris Abu Seman