Divisi
Anthracnose
Colletotrichum spp. · Fungal
Photo: Howard F. Schwartz, Colorado State University, Bugwood.org · CC BY 3.0 US
Anthracnose is a family of fungal diseases (Colletotrichum species) that rots the leaves, stems, pods and fruit of many smallholder crops — beans, tomato, chili, mango, banana, cassava and sorghum. It carries over from season to season on seed, crop trash and shrivelled 'mummy' fruit, then spreads in the splash of warm rain, thriving in muggy 20–30°C weather when leaves and fruit stay wet for 8 hours or more. Its signature is a dark, sunken spot that oozes pink-to-orange spores — and its cruel trick is hiding inside a fruit that looks clean at harvest, only to rot on the way to market.
Scot Nelson · CC0 1.0 
Dannykhorskhi LXII · CC BY-SA 4.0
Why it matters
In a warm, wet season anthracnose can rot away up to 60% of your crop — more than half the pods, fruit or grain you were counting on. The worst of it is hidden: a fruit can look perfect when you pick it, then turn into a sunken rotten patch in the basket on the way to market, so you lose it after all your work. Once the fungus is inside the plant, no spray can cure it — every warm rain just splashes it onto more clean pods and fruit. That is why with anthracnose everything rides on keeping it out and stopping it at the very first spot, not curing it later.
When to act
Protect the crop when sunken dark lesions first appear on stems, pods or fruit in warm wet weather.
This guidance is general, compiled from published agronomic references including FAO and CABI. Thresholds and timing shift with your crop, your variety and the season.
In much of the region a spray is simply called mushonga — medicine. But a chemical group you cannot name is one you cannot rotate, and a product you did not write down has no pre-harvest interval you can observe. Mushonga, and other farming words →
The full anthracnose field guide
- Identify it
- Scout for it
- Control it
15 field-guide sections in the app
The full guide to anthracnose — every symptom to check, how and when to walk your field looking for it, and the controls that actually work, ranked. Built into your crop plan, so you are told to look before it costs you a harvest.
Crops it affects
Frequently asked questions
How do I identify anthracnose?
What shows first: small dark, water-soaked spots on pods, stems, ripening fruit or leaves that quickly turn sunken — pressed inward like a thumbprint or a dimple — with a dry, darkened, often cracked centre. On beans, look for dark sunken 'eye-spots' on the pods and dark streaks running along the veins on the underside of the leaves.
When should I take action against anthracnose?
Protect the crop when sunken dark lesions first appear on stems, pods or fruit in warm wet weather.
How do I control anthracnose?
Prevent first — plant resistant and plant clean: where you can get one, grow a tolerant or resistant variety — a type bred to shrug the disease off, best available for beans and sorghum; it is your cheapest, most reliable shield. And always start with clean, certified or seed-treated seed and healthy planting material — anthracnose rides into your field on infected seed and last year's trash, so this one choice keeps it out from day one.
Which crops does anthracnose affect?
Among the crops covered here: Cassava, Common bean, Mango, Sorghum, Tomato.
Catch it before it costs you a harvest
Divisi builds scouting into your crop plan — it tells you when to walk your field, what to look for at that stage, and what to do when you find it. Free for farmers, works offline.
Check what grows on your farm