Disease Incidence and Severity of Pythium spp. and Phytophthora spp. Affecting Chili Pepper and Tomato Crops in Punjab, Pakistan
Sajjad Hyder, Saadia Naseem, Sohaib Azhar, M. Ashfaq, Zahid Ali, Azeem Khalid, and M. Inam-ul-Haq
Devastative crop losses in Pakistan are commonly due to infections by oomycete organisms, Pythium spp and Phytophthora spp., at pre- or post-emergence growth stages. Significant research work has not been conducted to control these pathogens and there are few data reports on disease incidence and severity in Pakistan. An extensive survey was conducted over two consecutive years in nine major vegetable-growing districts of Punjab, Pakistan. Data indicated that incidence of Pythium damping off in chili fields was 45.4% in Okara, followed by 41.60% in Sialkot and 37.67% in Gujranwala. The lowest disease incidence (DI) (13.80%) was observed in Jhelum district. Maximum mean disease severity (DS) (3.48%) was recorded in Sialkot while minimum severity (2.16%) was recorded in Chakwal. In tomato fields, Pythium damping off ranged from 5.90% to 40.13% and severity was as high as 3.53 in Okara. Late blight infection due to Phytophthora spp. ranged between 9.68% and 66.25% in all surveyed districts. Maximum mean disease severity on the disease rating scale (DRS) was recorded from Sialkot (4.13%) and from Okara (3.83%) and the minimum mean disease severity (1.04%) was recorded from Chakwal.