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Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 12 No. 2 (2025)

Insights into chilli anthracnose management: Unraveling the population dynamics of Colletotrichum truncatum

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.4016
Submitted
2 June 2024
Published
04-06-2025 — Updated on 14-06-2025
Versions

Abstract

Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.), commonly known as red pepper, is a vital spice crop in India. However, its productivity has been adversely affected in recent years due to various biotic and abiotic stresses. While fungicides have been effective in mitigating these diseases, their continued use poses significant environmental and health risks and contributes to the emergence of fungicide-resistant pathogens. Consequently, there is a growing need to adopt sustainable and eco-friendly disease management strategies, such as the use of bio-inoculants. Bio-priming, an innovative seed treatment technique that combines hydration and biological inoculation has been successfully employed in many vegetable crops but remains underexplored in chilli, particularly for disease control. In this study, chilli seeds were bio-primed with either Trichoderma harzianum or Pseudomonas fluorescens or their combination. The results demonstrated that the combined application of T. harzianum and P. fluorescens significantly reduced the Percent Disease Index (PDI) compared to untreated seeds. T. harzianum applied alone also showed considerable effectiveness in disease management. Anthracnose incidence was assessed using PDI values at 35 and 60 days after transplanting (DAT) during both the pre-kharif and rabi seasons. A higher disease incidence was observed in the rabi season. Among the genotypes tested, 'Anugraha' exhibited superior resistance to anthracnose post-bio-priming, consistently recording lower PDI values under all observations. In contrast, the variety, 'Suryamukhi Bullet', was more susceptible, with significantly higher PDI values.

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