Integrated Management of Collar Rot of Chilli Caused by Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc

Collar rot (Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc.) of chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) is one of the devastating soil-borne diseases of fungal origin, due to which 16–80% yield loss is recorded annually according to the severity of the disease. An integrated disease management approach was developed for the management of collar rot of chilli using fungicide, biocontrol agents and an organic amendment. The results of the experiments from the two years pooled data and cost-benefit ratio indicated that chilli seedling dip treatment with Carbendazim 12 % + Mancozeb 63 % (75 WP) @ 2.5 g/l + Trichoderma viride @ 10 g/l + soil application with Neem seed cake @ 5 q/ha significantly reduced the collar rot disease incidence (8.33 %) with higher B:C ratio (3.73:1). The reduction in disease incidence over control in this treatment was 77.06 %. Consequently, the green fruit yield in chilli was 128.11 q/ha, recording a percent increase of 68.72 % over control. The integrated management of chilli collar rot by using fungicide, biocontrol agents and an organic amendment is safe and ecologically sound and appears to be a healthy approach to the disease management.