Occurrence and Ecological Characteristics of Red Pepper Anthracnose

Kwon, Cheon Sub; Lee, Soon Gu

Research in Plant Disease 2002;8(2):120-123.
Published online June 30, 2002.

고추 탄저병의 발병 생태 특성

권천섭, 이순구

Occurrence and Ecological Characteristics of Red Pepper Anthracnose

Cheon Sub Kwon, Soon Gu Lee

Abstract

Occurrence of anthracnose on red pepper fruit was examined at 6 red pepper-growing regions including Yecheon, Andong, Euisong, Cheongsong, and Ponghwa in Kyungbuk province, Korea in 1999. The disease occurred firstly June 13 at Cheongsong, progressed gradually thereafter, and increased rapidly from late August. The average disease incidence with mid September was 30.4%. There was no significant difference in disease incidence among the regions examined. Correlation coefficient analysis of the disease incidence with weather factors revealed that it was significantly related to relative humidity, precipitation, rainy days, and duration of continuous rainy days. Most fungal isolates from the diseased fruit were Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. In the in vitro experiment, unmature fruit was somewhat more susceptible to the disease than mature fruit. In the field experiment, the disease occurred severely in open fields, having the disease incidence of 12.1%; however, no disease was observed in the rain-proof fields. The anthracnose on red pepper fruit developed earlier and more severely in the successive cropping field with red pepper than the field having other crops. Removal of infected plant debris also delayed and reduced the disease occurrence, suggesting that plant debris infested with the anthracnose fungus serve as a primary inoculum source which may govern the severity of the disease in the field.

Key Words: anthracnose, disease occurrence, epidemiology, red pepper