Phytophthora blight (Phytophthora capsici) of pepper and its management

Phytophthora blight, caused by Phytophthora capsici, is one of the most Important diseases of peppers. P. capsici can infect pepper plants at all growth stages, causing seedling death, root rot, crown rot, stem blight, leaf spot, and fruit rot. Three approaches were evaluated for management of Phytophthora blight in peppers, which included: (i) using resistant cultivars, (ii) crop rotation, and (iii) fungicide application. To identify resistant pepper cultivars to P. capsici, cultivars/lines of bell pepper were tested in the greenhouse and field, and several cultivars were found resistant/tolerant to P. capsici. To establish effective crop rotations for management of P. capsici, host-range of the pathogen was determined and survival of the pathogen in four soil textures and three soil depths were investigated. A four-year crop rotation with nonhost plants and effective weed control are recommended for management of Phytophthora blight of peppers. Twenty six fungicides were evaluated for their efficacy for control of P. capsici. Ametoctradin + dimethomorph (Zampro 525F), cyazofamid (Ranman 400SC), dimethomorph (Forum 4.16 SC), famoxadone + cymoxanil (Tanos 50WDG), fluazinam (Omega 500F), fluopicolide (Presidio 4SC), mandipropamid (Revus 2.09SC), mefenoxam (Ridomil Gold 4SC, Ridomil Gold Copper 70WP), phosphonates (ProPhyt 4.2F), and zoxamide + mancozeb (Gavel 75DF) fungicides were found effective for control of P. capsici in pepper.