Udupi: Disease Plagues Pepper Plantations in State

Suvarna Brahmavar
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (RD)

Udupi, Dec 5: Pepper plantations all over the state are plagued by a disease which turns the leaves yellowish and withers the bunch of tender green pepper causing the entire creeper to die. It is owing to this disease that pepper plantations are wearing a pathetic look.

The disease that starts in one creeper initially, spreads to the nearby creepers and destroys the entire plantation.

The green leaves of the pepper plant turn yellow in the first stage and the leaves fall gradually along with the green pepper. The entire creeper withers in one or two weeks.

The dying of pepper creepers is a contagious disease that can progress speedily or gradually. In the first instance, the creepers die in 15-20 days. In the latter, the disease affects a few leaves and then spreads to the entire creeper which then dies in one or two years.
 
The farmers need to chop off the creepers that spread on the ground, and tweeze the leaves from two feet above ground, which saves the creeper from quick death. Also bordo liquid mixture should be sprayed on pepper creepers, like it is done for areca plants.

The disease can be prevented from spreading by uprooting the creeper as soon as it gets affected, and burning it. Stagnant water that can accelerate the disease should be avoided by laying trenches that take away excess water.

A farmer opines that arecanut in mixed plantations has to be handpicked, in order to maintain cleanliness, and that manure with neem waste for every creeper each year, and spray of a ready mixture of 3 grams of oxicloride in 1 litre of water around the creeper on the ground will help to keep the disease at bay.

The plantation has to be cared for as the disease could wipe out the entire lot.

Black pepper was a major export item in pre-Independence era, and was exported in hundreds of merchant ships to worldwide destinations. Although in recent times, pepper prices are subject to fluctuation it has retained its position and medicinal value. If the disease prevails as it is now, the future of black gold is in jeopardy.

Pepper is a supplementary crop that can be grown in areca and palm plantations with minimum expenditure and the potential to earn a higher income.

The price of pepper has touched a record Rs 300 per kilogram, from Rs 100 in the past.

For more information, contact Agriculture Science Centre, Brahmavar on 0820-2563923.