Interspecific Hybridization in Capsicum for Management of Anthracnose Disease

Anthracnose is one of the most important tropical diseases of chilli (Capsicum sp.) word wide caused by several Colletotrichum sp. Anthracnose control often involves frequent fungicide applications that have negative effects on farmer income health and on environment. Therefore, managing this disease by host plant resistant is an attractive option. Among Colletotrichum species causing anthracnose disease, C. capsici is most common in India. A total of 43 interspecific F1s of Capsicum species were screen for identifying anthracnose resistance at fruiting stage on mature red ripe fruits in field and lab condition. Disease severity was assessed on 0–5 scale on randomly collected fruits from selected plants. It was observed that 27 crosses (crossed with wild germplasm and landraces) exhibited resistant reaction with disease severity of less than 10 percent. Important combinations included the cross Pusa Jwala × NG-2, A7 × Kalyanpur Chanchal, Punjab Lal × NG-8, Punjab Lal × NG-7, showed moderately resistant reaction while Japani Longi × NG-8 and Pusa Jwala × NG-7 expressed moderately susceptible reaction. The combination involving weedy relatives were observed to posses certain level of resistance owing to their inherent potential. Although the morphological traits of fruits for consumer preference may not be desirable as such, the importance of wild counterparts is highly appreciable for capsaicin content along with resistance.