Damping off
1. Damping off:
---------------------

C.O: Pythium aphanidermatum (Eds.) Fitz
(Class: Oomycetes; Order: Peranosporales; Family: Pythiaceae)

Symptoms:

• Infection usually starts on the germinating seeds.
• Spread to the hypocotyls, basal stems and developing tap root.
• Affected seedlings are pale green.
• Brownish water soaked lesions at the basal portion of the stem.
• Lesion girdles the stem, extending up and downwards.
• Affected tissues rot and the seedling collapse.

Management:

• Use ratified seeds for sawing.
• Treat the seed with metalaxyl @ 3 g/Kg seed.
• Privide better drainage by forming raised bed.
• Recommended seed rate to be applied.
• Drench the copper oxychloride fungicides @ 0.25% on the on set of disease


Fruit rot and phomopsis blight

2. Fruit rot and phomopsis blight:
----------------------------------

C. O.: Phomopsis

Symptoms:

• Small circular spot spear on leaves, later on become cinnamon- baff coloured with irregular blackish margin
• Lesion also develop on petiole and stem; blighted the affected portions
• On fruits, minute, sunken dull and dusky spot appear, later merge to form rotten areas
• Severely infected fruits, the entire flesh nay rot and numerous pycnidia develop on the affected portions of the fruit coat in the advance stage

Management:

• Adopt various field sanitation measures
• Seeds from diseases fruit should be avoided
• Treat the seeds by thiaram or captan @ 3 g/Kg seed
• Spray the copper oxychloride fungicide @ 0.25% at the initiation of disease.


3. Leaf spot:
-----------------

Alternaria leaf spot (Alternaria melongenae Rang. and Samb.)

Symptoms:

• Characteristic leaf spots with concentric rings
• Spots coalesce to cover large areas of the leaf blade, leaves may drop off
• On fruits, large deep seated spots, fruits turn yellow and drop off prematurely

a) Cercospora leaf spot

Symptoms:

• Characterized by chlorotic lesions
• Angular to irregular in shape, later turning grayish brown with profuse sporulation at the centre of the spot
• Severely affected leaves drop off prematurely, resulting in reduced fruit yield

Management:

• Use diseases free seedling for transplanting
• Spray copper oxychloride fungicides @ 0.25% or mancozeb @ 0.25% at the initiation of the disease.


Little leaf
4. Little leaf:
-------------------

C. O. Mycoplasma

Symptoms:

• Characterized by reduction in size of plant, particularly the leaves are malformed into tiny chlorotic structures
• Foliage on affected plants is clustered together, malformed and becomes sterile
• Mycoplasma transmitted by jassid (Hishimonas phycitis Distant.)

Management:

• Roughing out infected plants
• Spray any suitable insecticide to manage the vector population

5. Root knot nematode:
----------------------------

C. O. Meloidogyne javanica (Treub.) Chitwood

Symptoms:

• Characterized by severe knotting of the roots
• Stunting of plant and poor fruiting

Management:

• Use disease free seedling for transplanting
• Use disease resistant variety
• Avoid the monocropping of solanaceus crops
• Apply carbofuran @ 33 kg/ha soil application during onset of infection