Hot pepper (Capsicum anuum L.) is the prominent type of Capsicum spp grown in Ethiopia, sincernits introduction in the early 17th century by the Portuguese. It covers 67.98% of all the area underrnvegetables in Ethiopia. Anthracnose is the most renowned pepper fungal disease in the southrnwestern part of the country causing up to 100% loss. Total crop failure due to diseases has beenrncommon in the region and farmers are sometimes forced to abandon their production due tornexcessive infection pressure in the field. The present thesis probes a broad overview of therndisease in Ethiopia. The main aim of this study was; thus, to gather scientific information onrnthe characterization of the pathogen and management o f the disease it caused in the country.rnThe specific objectives of this study were to assess the magnitude of disease in main chilirngrowing areas of the country; and the level of pathogenesis of the strains of the pathogen usingrncultural, pathological and morphological tools; evaluate different biological control agents, plantrnextracts and fungicides in vitro; study the effect of seedling density and phonological stages onrndevelopment of anthracnose and yield parameters in chili; Search for variability and germplasmrntolerance among the existing chili/pepper varieties in Ethiopia; analyze and develop thernincidence-severity relationships model; identify economically effective timing and frequency ofrnfungicide spraying programs; and analyze the effect of integrated anthracnose diseasernmanagement on disease reactions, growth and yield parameters and economic profitability of chilirnproduction.rnRigorous survey was conducted in anthracnose prone areas; and the highest and lowest diseasernspread was observed in Alaba and Shashogo with cumulative incidence of 41.88% and 19.81%,rnrespectively. From the chili farms, the highest incidence was found in Arsi negelle followed by Alaba with the value of 31.66% and 28.66%, whereas the lowest incidence in farms was found inrnHumbo and Maraqo with 13.63% and 14.89%. Nurseries with a highest incidence were observedrnin Humbo and Alaba with values of 13.5% and 13.02%, respectively. The disease incidence wasrnlow, 4.13% and 1.28%, in Shashogo and Arsi negelle. Prevalence was higher in upper-kolla agroecologicalrnzones where the mean was recorded as 21.82% and 7.55% in farms and nurseries,rnrespectively.rnThe variability study indicated that colonies varied in their cultural behavior ranging from cottonyrnto fluffy, mostly suppressed with regular to irregular margins. Colletotrichum spp pathogenâ€™srncolor ranged between white to grey. Growth rate of isolates on PDA medium was between 22.0 -rn69.5 mm. Morphological studies of isolates revealed variations in their color, size, shape, acervulirnproduction, setae size and shape of conidia. Average conidial size varied from 18.00 - 33.3 Î¼mrnand average setae size varied from 77.2 -181.2 Î¼m. On the basis of disease reaction expressed byrndifferential hosts, eleven groups (races) of C. capsici were identified.rnThe evaluation of fungicides, plant extracts and antagonists showed that all test concentrations ofrnTilt-250 EC significantly inhibited the mycelial growth of Colletotrichum capsici. Among therntested plant extracts, garlic was the best both in reducing the radial mycelial diameter (72.33)rnand mycelial dry weight (73.33) at the highest concentration of 15 %. There was s igni f icantrnvariation among isolates of Trichoderma spp and antagonistic activities ranged from 51% torn89% reduction of the mycelial radial growth of Colletotrichum capsici on the PDA medium.rnAmong the promising antagonists, the isolate Tri_3 of Trichoderma harzinum showed the highest,rn89 %, inhibition of mycelial radial growth of Colletotrichum capsici Experiment on planting densities and seedling phonological stages showed that symptomrndevelopment was delayed one day in the youngest seedlings compared to the older ones. After thernappearance of symptoms, for four consecutive days, the level of leaf disease incidence andrnseverity was consistently lower on the youngest seedlings. Leaf wetness was highly reduced byrnincreasing seedling spacing by at least 15 cm. The highest plant population densities yielded thernhighest weight of berries per plot.rnIn multi-locational germplasm screening trial, the majority of the genotypes were moderatelyrnresistance to C. capsici and none of them was found to be immune at the two locations.rnSignificant variations were also obtained among the genotypes for all yield components, namelyrnpercent establishment, dry fruit weight per plant, number of fruit per plant, pulp weight per plant,rnunmarketable fruits weight per plant, fruit length and days to 50 percent maturity. Total yield perrnplant was higher at Alaba than Maraqo high level of disease incidence at Alaba. Anthracnose leafrnincidence was consistently associated with leaf severity and their relationships can be estimatedrnusing the linear function across locations, crop seasons, and genotypes. The economic implicationrnof the timing and frequency of Ridomil application in the current context of fungicide use on chilirnin Ethiopia was also evaluated. Less frequent applications (3-7 times) starting from flushingrnsuccessfully prevented the disease development and significantly reduced the incidence of leafrnanthracnose.rnThe lowest plant infection (12.8%), leaf infection per plant (15.2%), percent diseased leafrnarea(15.2%)and infected fruits per plot (17.4%) was observed on combined application of isolatesrnTrichoderma spp, plant extracts and Ridomil in Maraqo fana variety. Regarding the growthrnparameters, viz. the highest Mean Percent establishment (81.67), mean days to 50% flowering (65.33), mean days to 50% maturity (82) days to first harvest (106.3) in was observed in T16, T4,rnand T8, respectively. From the quality parameters, the highest mean number of branches per stemrn(9), mean canopy diameter (24.8), mean number of flowers per plant (9.6) and mean plant heightrn(61.4) in T10, T15, T6 and T7, respectively. Both negative and positive control showed higherrnincidence and severity as compared to single and combined application of isolates Trichodermarnspp, plant extracts and Ridomil. The combined application of Trichoderma, plant extracts andrnRidomil performed best in number of fruits/plant, number of seeds/pod, unmarketable fruit,rnmarketable fruit and total yield. This mix up gave a higher benefit-cost-ratio due to reducedrnproduction cost indicating that a judicious combination of organic management practice isrnenvironment friendly, healthy and sustainable.rnOver and above, management o f pepper anthracnose disease through integrated me ans wa srnr e commended in Ethiopia.