Seed-borne fungi of chilli pepper in the Coastal savannah zone of the central region of Ghana
Abstract
232 words
Many chilli pepper (Capsicum frutescens) growers in the region have moved from chilli
cultivation to other crops due to the continuous decline in yields as a result of disease problems,
of which fruit rot is paramount. The study was carried out to identify the mycoflora associated
with pepper cultivation in the Coastal Savannah Zone of Ghana. The purposive sampling
technique was used to select farms from which samples were collected during the major
rains (August – September 2012). Fruits at different stages of maturity were collected and
the seeds were extracted and plated for seed health testing using the blotter paper method.
The experimental design used was the completely randomized design. Data collected were
analyzed using Genstat discovery edition 3. In all, a total of 35 species of fungi belonging to
17 genera were isolated from the samples. Chi-square test results of mean percent seed
mycoflora infection gave the following test statistic values (c2 = 7012.17, df = 29, and sig. =
0.00) and (c2 = 10067.26, df = 33, and sig. = 0.00) for within pretreated and untreated seed
samples, respectively. Unriped fruits recorded the highest mean percent infection by each
fungi. The three most prevalent fungi were Fusarium species, Alternaria species and
Acremonium strictum. These rot-causing fungi may be a contributing factor to the declining
yields being recorded by the farmers and hence partly explains their shifting to other crops.
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