May 2024
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Acacia decurrens woodlot is highly expanded in Northwestern Ethiopia (Awi Zone) at the expense of crop and grazing land uses, mainly for fuel wood production, soil, and livelihood improvements. However, in recent years it has been seriously affected by the disease(s). The study was conducted to assess the expansion and damage level of A. decurrens disease(s) and identify the cause of its drying in 2021 and 2022. The three potential districts (Fagita Lekoma, Banja and Ankasha Guagusa) were purposively selected. A total of nine Kebeles, three per district were selected and clustered based on age. Data on incidence and severity were recorded. Samples were also collected from each age for lab analysis. Symptomatological analysis and Morphological characterizations of the pathogens were done in the field and laboratory. In addition, a household survey was carried out using structured and semi-structured questionnaires. The incidence of the disease was 100% in all growth stages in all locations. But the severity of the disease varied among the growth stages: mean severity for 1st year > 48%, 2nd year >45%, 3rd year >36% and 4th year = 18% were recorded. The 1st and 2nd year plantations were highly devastated by the disease and farmers cleared to replace them with field crops. The detailed symptomatology analysis and morphological characterizations in the field and laboratory imply that the causative pathogen for A. decurrens disease could be Ceratocystis fimbriata and Uromycladium acacia, both of them are fungal pathogens with their preferred common name of Ceratocystis blight and Wattel rust respectively. Since symptom and morphological overlapping’s observed for Ceratocystis fimbriata and Uromycladium acacia further direct detection and identification methods should be done.