Occurrence of different diseases of capsicum, tomato and cucumber under protected cultivation in Himachal Pradesh

Protected cultivation of high value cash crops is gaining momentum in Himachal Pradesh, and cultivation of capsicum, tomato and cucumber have become the choice of farmers. Farmers are facing problems of low yield and poor quality marketable produce due to various constrains like diseases, insect pests, lack of planting and management technology. Among these diseases are posing great threat to protected cultivation. So, the present investigation was undertaken to identify the pathological problems under protected conditions. Polyhouse surveys were conducted during the year 2008–09 and 2009–10 in different and observations were recorded on the occurrence of different diseases. On capsicum the incidence of powdery mildew was recorded in epidemic form followed by bacterial wilt (5–40%), collar rot (10–20%) and cercospora leaf spots (5–25%). On tomato bacterial wilt, late and early blight and powdery mildew were the major diseases. On cucumber downy mildew was the major disease followed by powdery mildew with 25–90% and 20 -40% disease severity, respectively. Incidence of bacterial wilt of capsicum and tomato was high in the polyhouses having light soils. Disease severity of cucumber downy mildew and cercospora leaf spot of capsicum was high during rainy season. The incidence of gray mold was also recorded in some polyhouses which were experiencing high dew drops formation and poor ventilation. Some of the minor diseases occurring under field condition have become major under protected condition. It was also revealed that innovative farmers are getting good returns when emphasis is given on the adoption of recommended production and protection technologies.