Abstract
Black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) known as “King of Spices” is one of the important spice crops of India. It is affected by fungi, bacteria, phytoplasma, plant parasitic nematodes and phanerogamic parasites. Among plant parasitic nematodes, root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita is one of the important limiting factors in production and productivity of black pepper in various districts of Karnataka. Further, it is involved in creating disease complexes along with fungi apart from inflicting the disease on its own. Keeping this in mind, an extensive survey in major black pepper growing districts of Karnataka namely: Shimoga, Udupi, Chickmagalur, Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada and Kodagu revealed the heavy incidence of root-knot nematode in all the major black pepper growing areas. The maximum mean RKI (3.52) was observed in Udupi district followed by Shimoga (3.58) and least mean RKI was observed in Kodagu district (2.73). Further in all the districts, fungal nematode associations were observed leading to slow wilt complex. Key words: Black pepper, root knot nematode, Meloidogyne spp., Phytophthora spp., slow wilt disease.
Highlights
Black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) famous as “Black Gold”and known as “King of Spices” is one of the important agricultural commodities of commerce and trade in India since pre-historic period
Black pepper in India is affected by fungi, bacteria, phytoplasma, plant parasitic nematodes and phanerogamic parasites
Among the diseases caused by fungi, foot rot disease caused by Phytophthora capsici, slow decline caused by Rhizoctonia bataticola and/or species of Fusarium and Pythium, anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and C. necator, and thread blight caused by Corticium solani and Marasmiellus scandens are the most common in plantations
Summary
Known as “King of Spices” is one of the important agricultural commodities of commerce and trade in India since pre-historic period. Kerala and Karnataka account for a major portion (92 %) of production of black pepper in the country (Anonymous, 2009). In Karnataka, the major black pepper growing districts are Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada, Shimoga, Chickmagalur, Udupi. International License nematode problem in the black pepper fields. The complete enumeration method of survey was followed to find out the incidence of root-knot nematodes. During the survey of these taluks in black pepper growing fields, the association of the test nematode with black pepper crop was observed. All root samples were carefully washed under tap water to remove adhering soil particles and they were properly stained and observed under the microscope and assessed for the presence of different life cycle stages of root-knot nematode including the egg masses. Bearman funnel technique and nematodes were identified using perineal patterns of adult females as well as the morphology of second-stage juveniles (Hartman and Sasser, 1985; Jepson, 1987)
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