Screening a major fungal disease in black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) nursery

Abstract

Black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) is one of the major spice crops and plantation crops that grow as the sole crop or intercrop in Kerala. In nurseries of black pepper major biotic stress are caused by bacteria, fungus, virus and nematode, out of this fungal infection are the leading one. The seedling blight, anthracnose and collar rot were found to be more severe in the nursery. With this background, the present study was conducted to identify the major fungal pathogen associated with black pepper nurseries. A survey was carried out in black pepper growing nurseries to record the different diseases. Seedling blight, anthracnose and collar rot were observed. The fungal isolates associated with seedling blight in nurseries at Padannakkad and Kanakappalli were designated as Pc1 and Pc2 respectively. Anthracnose affected seedlings were collected from Padannkkad, Balal, Panniyur and Periya black pepper nurseries and the fungal isolates associated were designated as Cg1, Cg2, Cg3 and Cg4 respectively. The collar rot samples were collected from Padannakkad, Periya, and Panniyur and isolates were designated as Sr1, Sr2 and Sr3. In the case of seedling blight infection, the highest disease incidence (DI) (74%) was recorded in Pc1. The highest percent disease index (PDI) in case seedling blight (32%) was recorded in Pc1 as compared to Pc2 isolate.