$Department of Botany, Osmania University, Hyderabad-500 004, Andhra Pradesh, India
National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, Regional Station, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad-500 007, Andhra Pradesh, India
* Paper presented in National Conference on Organic waste and eco-friendly technologies for crop protection during March, 2007 and Part of PhD thesis submitted by the senior author to the Osmania University, Hyderabad-500 004, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Chilli germplasm consisting of 174 accessions originated from 12 countries was screened against powdery mildew, anthracnose, dieback and sunscald under the natural field conditions to identify sources of resistance. Based on a rating scale, the per cent disease index (PDI) was calculated and the germplasm was grouped in to different categories in accordance with their field reaction. NIC-23906 was found to be the most field promising accession against powdery mildew under the resistant category. EC-399555, Kt-Pl-29, EC-421305 and EC-390029 were found to be resistant against anthracnose/fruit rot. The study also revealed 86 and 136 accessions free from the natural incidence of dieback and sunscald, respectively, which appeared to be promising. These field promising accessions would most certainly be useful in developing disease resistant cultivars having good agronomic traits and highly productive genetic potential.
Paprika chilli germplasm, screening, resistance, powdery mildew, anthracnose, dieback, sunscald
