Eco-Friendly Management of Chilli Anthracnose (Colletotrichum capsici)

Abstract

An investigation was carried out to determine the efficacy of some organic materials to manage anthracnose (Colletotrichum capsici) of chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) under natural field condition at Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh. Plant extracts of neem (Azadirachta indica), mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni), koromcha (Carissa carandas) and garlic (Allium sativum) applied as foliar spray, singly or in combination to find out their efficacy and profitability compared with control (no spray) and chemical fungicide Ridomil 50 WP (as a positive control). All the treatments controlled the disease significantly providing higher yield compared to control. As chemical, the combined application of neem, mahogany and garlic extracts also showed significant impact on disease reduction as well as on yield of chilli. Relatively, this organic cocktail gave a higher benefit (BCR=3.97) with minimum production cost and this approach is proposed to the chilli-growing farmers to mitigate the chilli anthracnose. So, organic combination might be a better option to control anthracnose of Chilli rather than chemical control as it is cost-effective and environment friendly.