The disease, which is fatal and contagious, is caused by a fungus called `Corynespora'.

The Rubber Board is taking measures to contain the disease on a war footing. The current bout of the epidemic is unlikely to affect the rubber production in a big way, Rubber Board sources maintained.

Top sources in the Rubber Board said that the fatal fungal disease, which has the potential to devastate rubber cultivation in the country if left unchecked, was first detected in some small plantations in Karnataka. There are also reports that the disease has affected some small plantations in Kerala as well. However, the extend of the damage caused by the disease was yet to be estimated, he added.

The source said the Board was taking urgent steps to nip the epidemic in bud and contain its spread to other areas.

He said theboard had already taken stock of the situation at its executive meeting held in Kottayam on Monday last and suggested some remedial measures. The committee has prepared a Rs 3-crore action plan to contain the disease. The Board is in the process of forwarding the plan to the central government.

The action plan prepared by the board includes spraying of anti-fungal pesticides and cutting down of affected trees. The board will be deliberating the issue in detail at its forthcoming director board meeting due later this month.

It is learnt the executive committee shot down a proposal mooted by several members of financing the action plan by diverting funds from the board's ongoing programmes. Several members were said to have suggested that the board should reduce the subsidy currently given to new plantations and channelise the money to fight the disease.

However, top executives of the board turned down the proposal and instead suggested that the money needed could be raised from the central government orfrom similar sources, the source added.

"There is no need for any panic reaction as the disease is seasonal," the source said, adding that the fungal attack occurred only during the dry months of December to March.

Since the disease is so far confined to a small area, which accounts for a small fraction of the total cultivated area, the overall rubber production was unlikely to be affected, he maintained.