Structural model of the anthracnose disease by Colletrotichum gloeosporioides attacking some production centers of red chilli East Java, Indonesia

Abstract

ABSTRACT - The anthracnose disease causes the important loss harvest of red chilli in Indonesia, especially in the rainy season. This study aims to develop a structural model of anthracnose disease attacking some centers of East Java red chilli production to better control the disease by manipulating cultivation techniques and environmental factors. The research was conducted by field survey method in five East Java production centers of red chili, during the rainy season from November 2017 to January 2018. In each chili center, we surveyed 13 to 20 farmer gardens using a purposive sampling. Latent variables observed were Harvest, Plant Disease, Microclimate, Soil, Cultivation Technique, and Geographic. The data were analyzed by multivariate analysis using Smart PLS 3.0 for student. The structural model showed a predictive relevance (Q²) = 0.9752 means that 97.52% of the information data were described in the model, while 2.48% was explained by unobservable variables. The structural model indicated that anthracnose disease attacks were significantly influenced by climatic and soil variables, while cultivation technique variables indirectly affected the harvest. The harvest of red chili was also influenced by level of disease attack, soil, cultivation technique, and geographic factors. Climate variables indirectly affected the chili harvest. Based on these results, it seemed that the anthracnose disease attack and harvest could be controlled by manipulating soil variables and cultivation techniques.