Powdery mildew

Powdery mildew of chilli incited by Leveillula taurica is one of the most serious

diseases of chilli. Field experiment was carried out to know the effect of different

fungicides against powdery mildew of chilli during Kharif season. Among the nine

treatments, propiconazole (0.1%) proved to be best for the management of powdery

mildew (9.01%) with minimum per cent disease index (PDI), which was superior

over all other treatments with maximum fruit yield of 36.13 q/ha which is followed

by myclobutanil (0.1%) with the PDI of 13.24 powdery mildew with fruit yield of

34.56 q/ha.

 

Causal organism : Leveillula taurica (Lév.) G. Arnaud

Damage symptoms:

• White powdery coating appears mostly on the lower surface and occasionally on upper surface


• Correspondingly on the upper surface yellow patches are seen


• Severe infection results in the drying and shedding of affected leaves


• Powdery growth can also be seen on branches and young fruits


• Diseased fruits do not grow further and may drop down prematurely

Survival and spread:

• Primary: Dormant mycelium in the infected crop debris


• Secondary: Wind dispersed conidia

Favourable conditions

• Cool dry weather favours conidial germination


• High RH favours disease development