ABSTRACT
Black pepper is affected by several diseases caused by fungi, bacteria, virus and mycoplasma, besides nutritional disorders. Crop losses due to diseases and pests are identified as major causes of low productivity of pepper in India (Sarma and Anandaraj 1997). The earliest record of diseases of pepper in India was that of Barber (1903, 1905). Butler (1906) also recorded the death of pepper and Rao (1929) isolated Phytophthora from diseased pepper, but the etiology remained inconclusive. Ridley (1912) referred to three important diseases of pepper namely, canker, hyphae in vessels and wilt. The cause of wilt was not confirmed but assumed to be due to fungi such as Nectria, Cephalosporium and Fusarium. Menon (1949), while reviewing the diseases of pepper, reported that stump rot was due to Rosellinia bunodes, “pollu” disease caused by Colletotrichum sp. and root disease or wilt due to an unknown pathogen. From the diseased plants Nectria sp. was recorded, but pathogenicity was not proved. Crop losses caused by diseases are a major production constraints in all pepper producing countries. In Brazil root rot and stem blight caused by Fusarium solani f. sp. piperis and the mosaic disease caused by cucumber mosaic virus are the major diseases (Duarte and Albuquerque 1991), whereas, in India, Indonesia and Malaysia Phytophthora foot rot is the major disease (Sarma et al 1992c, Holliday and Mowat 1963, Kueh and Sim 1992d, Manohara et al. 1992). Other diseases include slow decline, anthracnose, viral diseases which are referred to as stunted disease (Sarma et al. 1991), stunted growth (Sitepu and Kasim 1991) and wrinkled leaf disease (Kueh and Sim 1992b). In India, although wilt disease was the major disease causing death of plants, Phytophthora as the causal organism was reported only in 1966 by Samraj and Jose. Several diseases were recorded subsequently and now 17 diseases are known to affect pepper (Sarma et al. 1991).The diseases of pepper are reviewed recently (Sarma et al. 1991, 1994, Anandaraj and Sarma 1995). Among these diseases, Phytophthora foot rot, slow decline which were previously referred to as “quick wilt” and “slow wilt” respectively (Nambiar and Sarma 1977, Nambiar 1978, Das and Cheeran 1986), anthracnose and stunted disease cause severe crop losses. Phytophthora capsici occur both in the nursery as well as in the main field affecting all parts of the plant while others are confined to specific plant parts. Based on the severity of crop losses caused, pepper diseases are classified into
major and minor diseases. The major diseases are treated here with greater details.
