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Date: December 2, 2008
Source: The Financial Express [edited]
<http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Survey-forecasts-10--dip-in-pepper-output/393012/>

The crop survey conducted by the directorate of cocoa, arecanut, and spices development (DASD) has forecast that the output of pepper during 2008-09 would fall by 10 percent over the previous year due to erratic weather conditions and disease. The agency conducts an annual survey of pepper plantations in Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.
"The combined output in the 3 states is likely to touch 51 000 tonnes in 2008-09 against 57 000 tonnes in 2007-08," M Thamizh Selvan, director, DASD, said.

Output is expected to fall by 21 percent in Kerala over the previous year due to unusual early rains and a plant disease, he said. An attack of gall wasps devastated plantations in Wayanad district. An erratic monsoon also affected output in both Idukki and Wayanad districts.

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[Black pepper (_Piper nigrum_) is an important agricultural produce of India, especially Kerala, where it is known to be affected by several fungal and viral diseases. Both quick wilt caused by the fungus _Phytophthora capsici_ and spreading rapidly, and slow wilt caused by nematodes (_Radopholus similis_ and possibly _Meloidogyne_
species) were reported from this crop last year (2007) in Kerala. Thus the yield drop reported above may at least in part be due to one or both of these wilts. For more information on quick and slow wilt please see the previous ProMED-mail post no. 20070807.2565 and links listed below.

Maps
India:
<http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/india/images/IndiaMap_tourism.gif> 
and
<http://healthmap.org/promed/en?v=22.9,79.6,5>
Kerala districts:
<http://www.kerala.cc/keralamap/>

Pictures
_P. capsici_ symptoms on _Piper_ species:
<http://www.hinduonnet.com/seta/2002/01/24/images/2002012400200601.jpg>
Pepper plantation:
<http://www.rain-tree.com/Plant-Images/Piper_nigrum_p2jpg.jpg>

Links
Information on quick wilt of pepper:
<http://www.infobridge.org/asp/practice_view.asp?practiceID=141>,
<http://www.hindu.com/seta/2006/06/29/stories/2006062900061600.htm>,
<http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/sep102002/561.pdf>,  and
<http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/science/hot_science_topics/Soilborne_plant_diseases/
Vietnam_template3/Phytophthora_diseases#pepper>
Information on slow wilt of pepper:
<http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/pi/enpp/nema/nemacirc/nem093.pdf>
Pepper diseases, including quick & slow wilts:
<http://www.indianspices.com/html/s1930pac.htm>  and
<http://www.ipcnet.org/images/fop20051-13anandaraj.pdf>
Pepper quick wilt resistance programme in India:
<http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/10/24/stories/2005102401010700.htm> 
<http://www.indexfungorum.org/Names/NamesRecord.asp?RecordID=259718>
_R. similis_ taxonomy:
<http://nematode.unl.edu/rsimilis.htm>
_Piper_, genus and disease references:
<http://www.newcrops.uq.edu.au/listing/pipernigrum.htm>
Information on pepper cultivation in India:
<http://www.nmce.com/commodityStudy/pepper_study.jsp>.  - Mod.DHA]

[see also in the archive:
2007
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Quick & slow wilts, black pepper - India (Kerala) 20070807.2565]