Biological Management of Dieback and Fruit Rot of Chilli Caused by Colletotrichum capsici (Syd.) Butler and Bisby

Studies on the effect of different formulations of Trichoderma harzianum Rifai isolates, Neemarin and neem oil on Colletotrichum capsici (Syd.) Butler and Bisby were conducted on two chilli cultivars i.e. Pusa Sadabahar and Navjyoti. T. harzianum (toxin) suppressed the symptom expression, conidial germination and mycelial growth of C. capsici upto 100 per cent. Application of three different formulations of T. harzianum i.e. partially purified toxin, sorghum, and talc base (dry powder) applied in the field from the beginning i.e. seed, seedling followed by foliar spray in combination with Neemarin (neem product) and neem oil reduced the disease intensity upto 60.0 and 56.5 per cent in Pusa Sadabahar and Navjyoti, respectively was noticed. Similarly, fruit rot was also reduced upto 63.7 and 46.8 per cent in Pusa Sadabahar and Navjyoti, respectively. The preventive spray of T. harzianum in combination with Neemarin and neem oil should be given early in the morning at the initial stage of the disease development (first week of August) to wash off the due deposit when the temperature ranges from 28-.30°C and RH 100 per cent (favorable for disease development) and should continue at 10 days interval till hairest. One pre harvest spray of T. harzianum twodays before the harvesting should be followed to reduce the post-harvest and storage losses caused by C. capsici.