Survey of anthracnose (Colletotrichum gloeosporioides) on mango (Mangifera indica) in North West Ethiopia

Abstract

Field surveys were conducted in North West Ethiopia, Pawi district during 2011 and 2012 cropping seasons to determine the distribution of anthracnose and the association of disease parameters (incidence and severity) with climatic variables and crop management practices. Nineteen mango fields were surveyed and all were infected by anthracnose. The surveyed fields were at two growth stages, with flowering (2011) and fruiting (2012). There was no statistically significant difference for the incidence of anthracnose between the two seasons with mean disease incidence of 65.7% in 2011 and 66.5% in 2012. However, severity of anthracnose was statistically significantly different (p <0.05) in 2012 cropping season (81.2%) than in the 2011 cropping season (59.8%). Regression analysis for the relation between agronomical variables, as independent variables, and mango anthracnose severity, as dependent variable, showed contributions of environmental and agronomical variables such as planting stage, field size, plant density, altitude and villages for statistically significant anthracnose severity during fruiting stages than flowering stages. As altitude increases, disease severity decreases in the survey villages in Pawi district, Ethiopia