Chilli anthracnose, caused by Colletotrichum spp, is one of the main causes for post-harvest decay of chilli. It can develop on the field, during long distant transport, cold storage and shelf-life. In conventional agriculture, the whole plant including the fruits, are sprayed with fungicides as a prerequisite for post-harvest control of chilli anthracnose. Due to consumer concerns regarding the use of synthetic fungicides and the demand for safer storage methods, the use of synthetic fungicides is no longer allowed for the post-harvest control of chilli anthracnose. As a result, studies on alternative methods to control post-harvest decay have been developed over the years along with the demand for safer storage methods. In this review, results published within the last decade have been summarized and alternative approaches to synthetic fungicides for post-harvest control of chilli anthracnose were discussed in detail. Overall, the use of natural antimicrobials, biocontrol agents, resistant cultivars and ozone shows promise as treatments that can be adopted on a commercial scale to control post-harvest chilli anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum species.
Seed osmopriming could be a sustainable method to increase crop establishment, uniform emergence, and growth of plant on the field. Laboratory and field studies were carried out in 2010 cropping season at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, to study the effect of seed osmopriming duration on the germination, emergence, and growth of cowpea seeds. Treatments consisted of three osmopriming duration (soaking in 1% KNO3salt for 6, 8, and 10 hrs), one hydroprimed control (10 hr), and an unprimed control. These five treatments were laid out in a completely randomized design (CRD) replicated four times. The results showed that osmopriming with KNO3for different durations was at par but was superior to unprimed treatments in terms of seed germination, emergence, plant height, and dry matter accumulation at 3 weeks after sowing. From this study, it can therefore be concluded that seeds of cowpea could be primed (both hydro and osmopriming) for increased performance. However, osmopriming with KNO3salt (soaked in 1% KNO3salt solution and dried before sowing) for 6 hours could result in greater seed germination and seedling height than hydropriming.
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