Abstract
Chilli is economically very important and valuable crop through out the world. The native home of chillies is considered to New
Mexico. Portuguese brought chillies in Indo-Pak subcontinent from Brazil before 1585. The world’s total production of chilli is
approximately around 3.47million tonnes. India is the world’s largest producer, consumer and exporter of chillies in the world. Other
major chillies producing countries are China, Bangladesh, Peru, etc. Chilli is also an important cash crop of Pakistan. Approximately
0.2 million tonnes chilli are produced by Pakistan. Sindh province is the major chilli producing province and its share in the total
domestic production is about 82%. According to 2007 Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC), report Pakistan was the fifth
largest exporter in the world but according to there is continuous decline in the production of chillies in Pakistan. The reasons of this
reduction are various and many but the major threat in chilli production are various pests and pathogens which cause considerable
losses every year. Major insects which attack on chilli plant are Aphids, Mites, Thrips etc beside pests, different pathogens also cause
various diseases in chilli crop and reduce yield of the plant e.g. fungi, viruses, bacteria and nematodes. Among other pathogens the
fungal diseases are more destructive than diseases cause by other pathogens. Common fungal diseases are Damping off, Phytophthora
root rot, Powdery mildew, Fusarium wilt, Anthracnose etc.
