TY - BOOK AU - Deepa Pawar AU - Sainamole Kurian P (Guide) TI - Management of fungal diseases of capsicum (capsicum annuum L.) under protected cultivation U1 - 632.3 PY - 2017/// CY - Vellanikkara PB - Department of Plant Pathology, College of Horticulture KW - Plant Pathology N1 - MSc N2 - The present study entitled “Management of fungal diseases of capsicum (Capsicum annuum L.) under protected cultivation” was conducted in the Department of Plant Pathology, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara during June to February 2016-17. The major objective was to assess the incidence and severity of fungal diseases of capsicum under protected cultivation and to formulate an eco-friendly management practice. A survey was conducted in three districts of Kerala, Thrissur, Palakkad, and Thiruvanathapuram by selecting nine poly houses where capsicum is being cultivated during August to February 2016-17. During the survey, incidence of fungal diseases like powdery mildew, leaf spot, fruit rot, stem and fruit rot were noticed on capsicum under protected structures at various locations. Incidence of powdery mildew was observed in all the polyhouses except Vellanikkara, and the disease severity varied from 5.3 to 90.23 per cent. Leaf spot was noticed in three poly houses, during rainy season, the per cent disease severity varied from 2.97 to 5.36 per cent. Symptomatology of fungal diseases of capsicum observed during the survey was studied. The fungi associated with the diseases were isolated and the pathogenicity was proved. Cultural and morphological characterization of the pathogens was carried out and the fungi were tentatively identified as Leviellula taurica, Cercospora capsici, Colletotrichum capsici and Fusarium sp. The isolates were sent to Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvanathapuram for DNA sequencing and based on molecular characterization, it was confirmed that the leaf spot, fruit rot and stem and fruit rot of capsicum are caused by Cercospora capsici, Colletotrichum capsici, and Fusarium sp. respectively. Field experiments were conducted simultaneously inside the poly house and rain shelter for management of fungal diseases of capsicum with seven treatments and three replications. The treatments included two biocontrol agents (Trichoderma viride (asperellum) and Pseudomonas fluorescens) two systemic fungicides (tebuconazole and difenoconazole) and two contact fungicides (mancozeb and copper hydroxide).Among the treatments, T4 (soil solarisation + soil application of Trichoderma asperellum +seed treatment with carbendazim+ mancozeb (2g.kg-1) + foliar spray with mancozeb (0.2 %) was the most effective for management of Cercospora leaf spot in both poly house and rain shelter, followed by T2(soil solarisation+ seed treatment and foliar spray with Pseudomonas fluorescens(20g.L-1) and T1(soil solarisation+ soil application of Trichoderma viride (asperellum)) and these were statistically on par. Among the treatments, T5 (soil solarisation +soil application of Trichoderma asperellum+ foliar spray with tebuconazole (0.1 %) was the most effective for management of powdery mildew in rain shelter and poly house, followed by T6(soil solarisation +soil application of Trichoderma+ foliar spray with difenoconazole (0.05%) and these were on par. Correlation analysis was performed with the meteorological data recorded during the experiment and per cent disease severity (PDS) at periodic intervals and it was found that there is significant positive correlation with RH in rain shelter and temperature in poly house in case of Cercospora leaf spot. In powdery mildew, there was a significant negative correlation with PDS and temperature inside the protected structures. Economic analysis of the field experiments suggested that the soil solarisation with combination of biocontrol agents and tebuconazole recorded the highest B:C ratio. It was found that soil temperature at 10cm depth was higher in solarized soil when compared to non-solarized soil by 6.350C and 4.50C inside poly house and rain shelter respectively. It was also recorded that the population of soil microflora was reduced due to solarisation in protected structures. Analysis of population of phylloplane microflora proved that there was drastic reduction in the population of phylloplane fungi, bacteria and actinomycetes after spraying with chemical fungicides whereas the population increased after spraying with biocontrol agents. Survival of biocontrol agents on the phylloplane of capsicum was also studied and it was found that Pseudomonas florescens, survived on the leaf surface up to 15 days after foliar application. Thus, the study has confirmed the identity of causal agents of major fungal diseases of capsicum. Cercospora capsici reported for the first time on bell pepper from the country. It also suggested economical and effective management practices against the diseases. Further, the results of the study prove that, timely application of biocontrol agents gives satisfactory control of diseases without affecting beneficial microbes UR - http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810138190 ER -