ABSTRACT
Cinnamon is reported to be infested by over 70 species of insect pests, especially in India and Sri Lanka. However, very little authentic information is available on the insect pests of cassia cinnamons (C. burmannii, C. tamala and C. cassia). Some information on the insect pests of cinnamon is offered by Singh et al. (1978), Rajapakse and Kulasekara (1982), Butani (1983), Kumaresan et al. (1988) and Premkumar et al. (1994). From Indonesia, Wikardi and Wahyono (1991) reviewed the insect pests and natural enemies of cinnamon and cassia. One of the most destructive of plant pathogens, Phytophthora, was first recorded on cinnamon (Rands, 1922). However information on diseases affecting this crop is few and scanty. The antimicrobial properties of essential oils present in cinnamon could be one of the reasons for fewer diseases recorded on this plant (Chandra et al., 1982; Khanna et al., 1988; Hili et al., 1997; Baratta et al., 1998). However, many of fungi have been recorded on dried and stored cinnamon (Balagopal et al., 1973). The insect pests and diseases recorded on cinnamon and cassia are discussed in this chapter (see also Chapters 6 and 7 for the pests and diseases of Chinese and Indonesian cassias).
