Vol. 12, Issue 2 (2023)

Capsicum annuum (Chilli) is an important spice crop grown in tropical and subtropical areas of India. Chilli suffers from several diseases, out of which anthracnose of chilli is one of the important diseases. Keeping in view the negative impact of fungicides on the environment, an experiment was conducted to evaluate Trichoderma isolates against anthracnose disease of chilli. Trichoderma spp. are being used to control plant diseases in the sustainable disease management system. Nine isolates of Trichoderma spp., isolated from rhizosphere soil of chilli experimental field. Among these native isolates, T. harzianum was found as the most frequent five, while the T. viride was found as three, and T. asperellum as one. All nine isolates were screened for their antagonistic activity against Colletotrichum capsici of chilli. Results from present investigation revealed that all Trichoderma isolates significantly reduced the growth of the pathogen. Minimum radial growth of Colletotrichum capsici was recorded as 21.5 mm by Trichoderma isolate Tr-8, followed by Tr-3 and Tr-1 with maximum growth inhibition as 62.60, 61.74 and 59.13 percent, respectively, over control. Inhibition percent of growth by different isolates of T. harzianum ranged between 46.96-54.78 percent of C. capsici. Considering the frequency of T. harzianum among the isolates of native Trichoderma spp. in the experimental field and the growth inhibition percentage on C. capsici, it is concluded that Trichoderma harzianum can be part of integrated management of anthracnose disease of chilli.