Identification of the resistance grafted pepper from root disease

The low productivity of Indonesian pepper is caused by the type of exploitation by smallholders with very small business scales and very limited capital capabilities. This has an impact on the minimal application of recommended cultivation technology, including the use of superior seeds. In addition, the high attack of pests and diseases that cannot be overcome at the farm level. Base rot disease (BPB) caused by the fungus Phytophthora capsici is a major problem in pepper cultivation. Efforts to control BPB disease in the context of increasing pepper productivity are by using chemical control, technical culture, biological control and hybrid pepper. In addition, by exploiting the nature of rootstocks, grafting is used to obtain disease-resistant and abiotic-stress-resistant plants. The success of interspecific grafting pepper seedlings with peppercorn (Piper colubrinum) which is a superior seedling resistant to root rot disease of pepper stems. The aims of this study were as follows: (a) to obtain growth and production data on grafted pepper at the Foster Farmers’ Garden, and (b) to obtain growth and production data on grafted pepper at the Pepper Nursery Teaching Farm at the Lampung State Polytechnic. In experiment 1, this study used a survey method by taking several sample points in the gardens of the Farmers of Air Naningan and Marga Tiga. The total number of grafted pepper plants planted is 100 trees (planting year 2020), but now only 25% can survive. From the survey results, no grafted pepper plants were found to be attacked by BPB disease. The decrease in the percentage of life of grafted pepper plants in the field was caused by the incompatibility between the rootstock (medium) and scion (pepper). Therefore, it is necessary to innovate the technology for cultivating continued pepper.