Comparative host range and aggressiveness of Colletotrichum capsici

Abstract

It is an important spice, vegetable as well as cash crop of Rajasthan, mostly cultivated in kharif season, which is quite remunerative for farmers. It is affected by several diseases, but among the fungal diseases, fruit rot caused by Colletotrichum capsici (Sydow) Butler and Bisby, is a serious disease and one of the major constraints in chilli cultivation throughout the world. In a screen house experiment, 5 Kharif crops (sesamum, groundnut, cowpea, soybean and urdbean) and 2 weeds (motha and jangli chaulai) were inoculated with spore suspension (3×104 spore/ml) of Colletotrichum capsici. It is evident that the fungus was able to infect 4 Kharif crops (sesamum, soybean, cowpea and urdbean) and 1 weed (jangli chaulai) under artificial inoculation conditions and showed anthracnose symptoms on leaves.