Chilli, Capsicum annum L. is an annual herbaceous spice / vegetable / cash crop grown in both tropical and sub-tropical regions. Besides imparting pungency and red color to the dishes it is also a good source of vitamin C (175 mg / 100 g), vitamin A (870 IU / 100 g) and vitamin B (0.59 mg/10 g). Chilli suffers from many diseases caused by fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes and also abiotic stresses. Anthracnose of chilli caused by Colletotrichum spis one of the limiting factors in profitable cultivation of chilli in West Bengal. The disease was reported for the first time in India by Sydow in 1913 [1] from Coimbatore of Madras Presidency other occurrence were also been reported from various geographical regions in India [2— 5]. India is the leading producer, consumer and exporter of chilli in the world. The production of chilli in India for the year 2010-2011 was 1.2 million metric tonnes [6]. Yield losses and substantial deterioration in quality parameters due to anthracnose of chilli varied between 66–84% (7, 8). Chilli is exported from India to many countries, including Sri Lanka, USA, Nepal , Mexico and Bangladesh [9]. The disease has been observed to occur in three phases viz., (i) seedling blight or damping off stage, prevalent in the nursery, (ii) leaf spotting and die back stage which is initiated at different stages of growth and (iii) fruit rot stage in which the ripe fruits are infected. The last phase causes extensive damage to the fruits since
the lesions on the fruits considerably reduce the market value of the produce. The disease is both seed borne and airborne and affects seed germination and vigor to a great extent [10—12]. Management of the anthracnose disease is still under extensive research. It often involves frequent application of fungicides that have negative effects on farmer’s income, health and environment [13]. Therefore, managing this disease by host plant resistance is a good option. The present investigation was done to find out the source of resistance among chilli germplasms against anthracnose.