In a major breakthrough, scientists of the Pepper Research Station, Panniyur, have developed a new hybrid pepper variety that can resist the infamous foot-rot disease. Into the fourth year of its trial, the variety has also shown resistance to drought and erratic climate, KP Mammooty, head, Pepper Research Station said. Foot-rot disease is estimated to eat into 20-25% of the annual pepper production of the country and in some cases, farmers have stopped cultivating pepper after suffering economically from it, he said. The disease spreads rapidly and the damage is extensive. At present, no remedy exists for foot-rot disease in pepper, other than cutting and removing affected plants completely, he added.
The new hybrid is developed by crossing the indigenous ?piper nigram? species with a Brazilian wild species known as ?piper colubrinnium?. A pepper variety showing resistance to foot-rot disease caused by fungus ?phytophthora capscici? has been developed for first time in the world. The Brazilian wild species is known to be 100% resistant to the dreaded disease, but poor in yield, Mammooty said. The new hybrid is poor in yield compared to the prevalent Panniyur 1-7, which are known to give an output of 8,800 kg per hectare (fully dried). In field trials, the output of the new variety is estimated to be below 2,000 kg per hectare.
