Abstract
A number of soil borne fungi are reported to cause diseases in chilli crop in Pakistan and induce heavy annual losses. During our survey conducted during July 2010 to August 2012 it was observed that in the chilli plants of lower areas of Sindh Province including Kunri, Kot Ghulam Muhammad, Mirpurkhas, Hyderabad, Tando Allahayar, Samaro, Umerkot and Digri show pathogenicity symptoms including wilting, stunted growth, chlorosis and blotch. Diseased plant specimens were collected and brought to laboratory. The soil borne fungi Rhizoctonia solani, Macrophomina phaseolina, Fusarium oxysporum, F. solani and Pythium sp. were isolated from specimens collected from these areas. Pathogenicity tests were carried out under greenhouse conditions using isolated fungi on chilli and colonization, and infection percentages were determined. During this study, Pythium sp., and R. solani severely affected plants compared to other fungi tested for their pathogenicity such as F. oxysporum, F. solani and M. phaseolina. In biological control, four antagonistic fungi Aspergillus flavus, A. niger, Penicillium commune and Trichoderma harzianum were used against the above mentioned plant pathogenic fungi which successfully suppressed the activity of pathogenic fungi. In addition, it disclosed that T. harzianum was highly antagonistic towards R. solani, M. phaseolina, F. oxysporum, F. solani and Pythium spp. as it showed a strong inhibitory effect on the growth and mycelial development.
