How to Identify, Prevent and Control Anthracnose disease in Pepper Farms

Have you ever noticed dark, sunken spots in your pepper fruits?  Take a good look at the picture. It is called anthracnose disease of pepper.

 

The anthracnose disease reduces your peppers' fruit quality, making them not suitable for the market. This leads to heavy losses in pepper farms. 

 

Pepper anthracnose disease can affect all types of pepper. This includes habanero pepper, chilli pepper, bell or sweet pepper.

 

One of my trainee farmers called me to say that he has a disease incidence that has damaged almost all the fruits on his pepper farm. I visited the farm and identified the disease to be pepper anthracnose.

 

Consequently, I decided to write this article in order to educate farmers on how to identify, prevent and control anthracnose disease in their pepper farms. 

 

How to identify Anthracnose disease in a pepper farm? 

 

Anthracnose disease affects a wide range of vegetable crops. It is caused by fungi of the genus Colletotrichum. It spreads faster during warm, wet conditions.

 

While the symptoms are similar, the fungi that cause the disease are different from host to host.

 

The specific one that causes anthracnose in peppers is called Colletotrichum collodes.

 

The name of the disease anthracnose actually means "coal disease". This can give you clues on what to look for. Pepper anthracnose is identified by dark spots on pepper fruits, leaves,and stems,  frequently sunken, that later become black.

 

How to prevent anthracnose disease from infecting your farm.

 

Prevention is always the best form of defence or control against all vegetable farm diseases. Prevention is also cheaper and easier than treatment. 

 

We should not allow diseases like anthracnose to invade our farms before we start taking preventive measures against them.

 

Like every other vegetable disease, the first preventive measure against anthracnose disease is to grow resistant pepper varieties. This will help reduce the cost of chemical controls.

 

Anthracnose disease can also be prevented by using recommended spacing that allows for good ventilation and fast drying out of plants after rain or humid conditions. 

Do not enter the pepper farm during the early morning or rainy days when there is so much moisture on the pepper farm. Only enter when the leaves are dried out. This will prevent disease spread in your pepper farm.

 

Routine application of fungicides containing metalaxyl, mancozeb and carbendazim also controls them. Make sure to apply your fungicides every week and don't miss it. Also, switch to other fungicides with different active ingredients and modes of action to prevent fungicide resistance by the disease.

Control and Treatment of Anthracnose in Pepper Farm

Let's assume you let your guard down and your pepper farm got infected by anthracnose disease, how do you get to treat the farm or control the disease.

• Remove and burn infected fruits and badly infected pepper plants to control the spread of the disease.
• If the pepper farm is overcrowded and poorly ventilated like the one in the video below, you need to prune or remove some plants to allow for proper ventilation.
• Apply a mix of Mancozeb + carbendazim for two consecutive days, followed by copper +metalaxyl for another 2 consecutive days. 
• Repeat again after Seven day with Mancozeb or another two days 
• Continue spraying the fungicides every week interchanging with different active ingredients until the anthracnose disease is cleared from the farm.

You can also watch this video I made on an anthracnose-infected pepper farm. 

Please drop your comments down below.  Also, share this article with your farmer friends. It will be of a lot of benefit to them.

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How Satellite Technologies Contribute in Crop Rotation planning

Growing same crops on same land yearly may cause serious issues for any farmer. Plants have unique nutrient requirements, and the soil can become depleted if they are not rotated properly. It can affect the fertility of the soil and hinder plant growth. Additionally, the earth's structure can deteriorate, as some crops consume nutrients from the top layer while others prefer to extract them from deeper layers.

What is the significance of practicing Crop Rotation?

Crop rotation is an effective way to preserve soil structure and maintain nutrient levels in the garden. Additionally, it helps prevent soilborne pests.

Planting the same crop in the same spot yearly will weaken the soil structure over time due to the repeated use of the same nutrients. It will eventually lead to unhealthy soil that lacks those specific substances.

In addition, insects that spend their early life cycle in the ground will thrive, and their number will grow rapidly as their food source remains constant. As a result, managing these pests will become more difficult each year.

This approach is beneficial for farms with complex operations but simpler for farms that cultivate a limited range of crops and have consistent field conditions. Grain farms and certain large-scale vegetable operations are examples of farms with uncomplicated rotation requirements, as all crops can be grown on any of the fields.

While it may take longer, practicing crop rotation can increase diversity and improve soil health. As the number of crops and complexity of the fields increases, the advantages of proper crop rotation planning become more apparent.

Hence, it can be said that the goal of crop rotation application in farming systems is to maintain soil fertility and control pests and diseases. 

The Pros and Cons of Crop Rotation

Crop rotation can increase yield by planting different varieties, resulting in a diverse and plentiful harvest each season. Studies show it can boost output by up to 25%.

Plants need nitrogen for DNA, proteins, and chlorophyll. While some atmospheric nitrogen is available, they also need it from sources like soil.

 

Healthy soil is essential for proper plant development. Weak plant growth, inadequate root development, and reduced crop production can all be caused by poor soil quality. One of the most crucial advantages of crop rotation is soil structure improvement over time. It is recommended to rotate the deep-rooted plants with shallow-rooted ones. 

By adopting this farming technique, farmers can enhance the structure of the soil, thereby improving its ability to retain water. It allows plants to thrive during dry periods. Crop rotation has been traditionally employed to avoid disease and control weeds and pests. It is critical for maintaining sustainability as the excessive use of pesticides has resulted in harm and increased pest resistance.

Speaking about the disadvantages of crop rotation, it is worth noting that this practice is unsuitable for every climatic zone and temperature. In addition, the method's effectiveness is achieved by planting different crops each season, which prevents the farmer from specializing in a particular crop and growing it on a large scale.

Improper implementation of crop rotation examples can do more harm than good. Farmers need technical knowledge to experiment with crop rotation. There's plenty of information available, but it should be used carefully.

How to Plan Crop Rotation

After considering the pros and cons of crop rotation, it's crucial to understand how to implement it effectively. Let's go over the key points.

By rotating crops from various plant families, you can enjoy multiple benefits and reduce the risk of family-specific pests and diseases.

To enhance nutrient use and pest control, create a plan alternating between different crop groups. A four-year cycle is typically used, where crops are classified into categories like root vegetables, leafy greens, legumes, and fruits. Customize the sequence based on your unique requirements and growing conditions.

Include cover crops like clover, vetch, rye, and buckwheat in your crop rotation chart to improve soil health and fertility. This practice can help to suppress weeds, fix nitrogen, prevent erosion, and add organic matter when plowed or mulched.

Sequential seeding is a great way to make the application of this method more effective. It involves planting multiple crops in the same area during the growing season. For example, growers can plant beans or cucumbers in the same space after harvesting lettuce. It maximizes yield and space utilization.

Regular testing of the soil will monitor nutrient levels and pH. In this way, farmers can select a crop and determine what amendments or fertilizers may be needed to optimize soil fertility. You can also adjust the plant rotation plan based on this information.

The use of Satellite technology in crop rotation planning

Monitoring vegetation changes and tracking weather patterns is crucial for wise crop selection and rotation to maintain the farm's success.

Developed by EOS Data Analytics, a reliable provider of satellite data analytics for various sectors, EOSDA Crop Monitoring is an effective tool for field monitoring. This precision farming platform helps growers track crops' health during the growing season. Thanks to a vast amount of valuable data, farmers can make effective decisions and timely measures to protect them before the damage is done. 

It also provides features for efficient crop rotation planning. EOSDA Crop Monitoring enables the user to calculate vegetation index values. It's crucial to analyze the seasonal growth of each plant to the others in the sequence to determine the feasibility of a rotation plan.

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When is the best time to breed a goat

A West African dwarf goat

Goat breeding is an act of animal husbandry and when you finally decide to add a few goats to your life or start a commercial goat farm, this article would be of great benefit to you . Various products are obtained from them, which includes milk,fiber and skins . Especially milk which is very  nutritious and good for children and adults with abdominal discomfort.

Today, we are going to help answer some questions which includes

When is a goat too old to breed?

Goat will continue to mate and bread until they get to the age of 5 to 10 years of age. some goat in some exceptional cases are able to breed up to 12 to 14 years but this does not happen all the type and at this age the likelihood that your goat will have serious complication or pregnancy related death increases .

It is important you consider the health of your goat once they pass 10 years of age.

Apart from age, other factors which comes to play such as weight of the  goat, the environment and also the breed.

We should understand that once a goat crosses 10 years of age the chances of breeding and giving birth are low.

When is a goat too young to bread.

A goat that is up to 5 to 7 months old and is up to 16 to 20 kilograms in weight should be able to breed. The weight of the goat plays an important factor.

Again if you keep your goat for a very long time and they gain so much weight and accumulate fat without breeding them their chances of them breeding also decreases.

Can an old goat get pregnant?

Yes an older goat can get pregnant but when a goat gets too old and i.e over 10 years of age then her chances of giving birth decrease and more also the chances of pregnancy related death increases.

How many times do female goat give birth in a year?

You should consider your goat overall health and their ability to maintain a steady milk supply after giving birth. Hence it is wise to allow your goat breed once in every 7 to 8 month so as to have better milk and easier birth.

How often can a goat get pregnant after birth?

Actually There is no exact time frame to observe before your goat can get get pregnant after giving birth as this depends on several factors that should be put into consideration.

Goats naturally returns to heat after giving birth but this does not mean that they should start breeding immediately so as to get pregnant. You need your goat to rest and bounce back and also be in good shape from the stress that she passed through from the previous pregnancy.

It's advised that she does not  get pregnant at least three months after giving birth because she needs to be dried up within the first three months of her pregnancy after that she is free to get pregnant again.

How often do goats have kids?

Goats are capable of having babies twice in a year but it will amount to so much stress on your goat. There should be a recovery period from the stress she passed through before giving birth. This we have mentioned already.

Hence it's wise for a female goat to give birth once or twice  in a year, as it is no good for it to be so soon.

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An organic way of preventing and treating fish diseases that works.

For a very long time now, plant-derived compounds have long been used in the organic treatment of many diseases in fish farming.

A lot of plants have been used to investigate the effects of their compounds to enhance the immune responses and increase the protective abilities against diseases in fish farming

 

Many studies have shown that essential oils, extracts and isolated substances from plants might be an important and alternative treatment against diseases in fish farming.

 

The medicinal plants can be used not only against diseases but even more so, as growth promoters, stress resistance boosters and  for prevention of infections.

 

Also, these medicinal plants  provide a cheaper source for treatment and greater accuracy than the inorganic or chemical treatments without causing toxicity.

 

To date, more than 60 plant species have been studied for use to control different disease in fish farming.

 

I'm going to show you one of the best organic combination for treatment and prevention of diseases in fishes.

 

I prefer to use preventive measures because it's less expensive than curative measures. You should know that as a wise fish farmer, you shouldn't let disease creep in first before you start taking  preventive measures . You should prepare to keep all diseases far away from your fishes.

 

Here we go!

 

Ingredients needed for organic fish treatment 

 

1. Salt

 

2. Bitter leaves

 

3. Neem leaves

 

4. Mornings leaves

 

5. Paw-paw leaves

 

6. Garlic

 

These ingredients work like magic!

 

How to use.

 

1. Measure out the items needed

 

You will need 3 kilos of Salt, 25% of neem leaves, 20% of bitter leaves, 25% Moringa, 20% Paw-paw leaves and 10% of garlic.

 

Apart from the salt, the medicinal plants should make 100% of any weight you're using depending on get quantity of organic  treatment you want to make.

 

2. Blend all together to make a very smooth paste.

 

3. For treatment, mix everything including the 3 kilos of salt in 100 litres of water while for prevention make the volume of water to be 150 litres.

 

4. Flush off pond water completely.

 

5. Apply the treatment combo into the pond and observe the fishes closely.

 

6. If there's any strange reaction from the fishes, top the water up to 5% of the pond volume.

 

7. Leave the fishes in the combo for 30 minutes.

 

8. Top the pond water to cover the fishes and leave for another 30 minutes.

 

9. Fully top up the pond with water.

 

10. Repeat every day for 3 days if fishes are sick and repeat once every week for preventive measures.

 

That's all guys..

 

 

 

Please if you tried it, share your experience with us in the comment box. Also ask questions where you have challenges.

 

And don't forget to like and share.

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Profitable Agribusiness Ideas

We all know that agriculture is a thriving sector in all economies of the world especially Nigeria(maybe because I'm Nigerian). As we all know food business is big business because everyone must eat to survive.

Agribusiness in Nigeria is still very profitable because more than 180million Nigerians need to eat.

Agribusiness also offers the opportunity to get wealthy and also add value by providing food.

Agribusiness generally involves crop production, meat production, food processing, distribution, and marketing.


In this article, we have detailed profitable agribusiness ideas for Aspiring Entrepreneurs in Nigeria and beyond.

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How to Produce Your Own Chicken Feeds: The Best Formula

Chicken feed accounts for more than 80% of the cost of poultry production. Right now, the increasing cost of feeds is driving many poultry farmers out of business. Making your own feeds would cut down costs while increasing the profit margin of your poultry farming.

Today, I'm going to show you how to make your own chicken feed.

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An Expert's guide on making huge profits from yam farming business

Yams stored in a barn

Yam farming business is a profitable agribusiness venture which you can start on a medium to large scale. Nigeria is a major producer and consumer of yams, yet we have not sustained production to support exports on a large scale.

Consumer demand for yam is generally very high in Nigeria and yam cultivation is very

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