Rawat, ShilpiPrajapati, Manoj Kumar2019-09-042019-09-042019-07http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810126227Chilli (Capsicum annum L.) is one of the most important commercial crops of India. The sustainability of chilli production is threatened by various fungal, bacterial and viral diseases. Out of more than fourteen fungal diseases affecting chilli, anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum capsici is one of the oldest and most destructive disease which is reported worldwide. Focusing on the eco-friendliness and sustainability of the management methods, the present investigation was undertaken to study the cultural and morphological characteristics, identification of resistant sources through screening and management of the disease through botanicals fungicides. The in vitro evaluation of different inoculation methods revealed that pin prick method was the most effective for inciting chilli anthracnose. Pin prick method produced maximum lesion length and had recorded the highest disease severity when compared to the other three viz., fruit dip, spray and spot inoculation methods. The OMA and CFDA were found to be the best medium for the growth and sporulation of the fungus, respectively. The fungus produced greyish to white colony with fluffy texture and smooth margin on OMA, PDA, CDA, RSA and MEA whereas dark brown to black colony with thin and scanty texture was observed in CFDA. The maximum radial growth of the fungus in PDA was obtained at 30 0C temperature and pH 7.0. The studies on morphological characteristics of pathogen under stereo-binocular and electron microscope showed that mycelium was dense, septate and brown in colour. It produced acervuli having septate setae, sickle shaped brown coloured conidia with oil globule in the center. In vitro evaluation of botanicals revealed that neem @ 15% had the highest growth inhibition (44.21%) followed by tulsi @ 15% and neem @ 10%. Under field conditions, neem @ 15% had the lowest PDI and highest yield followed by marigold @ 15%. The in vitro screening of chilli varieties against C. capsici revealed that out of ten varieties six were found to be moderately resistant whereas two each exhibited susceptible and highly susceptible disease reaction. Hence, it can be concluded that eco-friendly management of anthracnose disease can be achieved byennullThesis