Incidence, Symptom Severity of Pepper Venial Mottle Virus Disease (PVMVD) and Green Peach Aphid (Myzus persicae) Population on Pepper (Capsicum annum) in Aliero Local Government Area of Kebbi State

Pepper venial mottle virus is primarily transmitted by Aphids, particularly the green peach Aphid. Transmission occurs through feeding on the infested pepper plant by this Insect. A field research was conducted during 2020/2021 dry season in Aliero Local Government of Kebbi State to assess the incidence, severity of (PVMVD) and Aphid population on pepper in selected pepper growing villages of Aliero LGA. Thirty (30) pepper plants were randomly assessed for disease incidence and severity. Aphids were also counted on the same thirty (30) pepper plants sampled on five randomly selected epical leaves of each plant. Data generated were subjected to Statistical Analysis using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software version 2020. Results indicated that, there was significant (P = 0.05) differences on disease incidence, disease severity and Aphid population among the selected pepper growing areas. Gumbulu Town had the highest mean disease incidence of (43.34 %), followed by Jiga-Birni (28.33%), Aliero Town (21.67%) and Kali village recorded the least (20.5%). Kali and Gumbulu revealed same mean disease severity of (2.0%), followed by Aliero Town (1.75%), while the lowest was obtained in Jiga-Birni (1.55%). There was a significant variation on the Aphid population, with Gumbulu Town having the mean Aphid population per leaf of (10.45) which was significantly higher than that of Kali (8.29), the least was observed in Jiga-Birni and Aliero Towns (4.64 and 4.17) per leaf respectively. This study concluded that there is occurrence of (PVMV) and its Aphid vector in the study area.