Four fertilizer treatments were applied to two PVMV susceptible pepper (Capsicun annuum) varieties (NHV1-D96 and NHV1-E96) and one PVMV tolerant variety (NHV1-G96) to determine their effects in reducing the incidence and severity of pepper veinal mottle virus disease and on yield and agronomic parameters. The treatments were: (1) no manure application, (2) poultry litter organic manure at the rate of 10 tons/ha, (3) poultry litter organic manure at the rate of 20 tons/ha, and (4) NPK (20:10:10) at the rate of 0.26 tons/ha inorganic fertilizer. Broadcasting method was used for all the fertilizer applications. The experiment was carried out both in the field using a randomized complete block design and in 5 kg sterilized soil-potted experiment in the greenhouse in complete randomized design. The treatments showed a significant effect (P < 0.01) on PVMV disease incidence and severity, plant height, leaf number, internodes distance, number of fruit per plant, and fruit yield both in the field and greenhouse plants. The interactions between the treatments were also significant (P < 0.05) for PVMV disease incidence and severity, plant height, leaf number, internodes distance, number of fruit per plant and fruit yield. Mean PVMV disease incidence and severity, plant height, leaf number, internodes distance, number of fruit per plant and fruit yield, varied significantly (P < 0.05) in all the treatments applied. The application of 10 tons/ha and 20 tons/ha poultry manure showed a significant (P < 0.01) effect in reducing the incidence and severity of PVMV disease on the three pepper varieties. The poultry manure treatments were also observed to have positively and significantly contributed (P < 0.05) to the plant height, leaf number and fruit yield of PVMV infected pepper plants in all the three pepper varieties used both in the field and in the greenhouse. The yield of pepper decreased with increasing PVMV disease incidence and severity in all the treatments.

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The distribution of aphid vectors of Pepper veinal mottle virus (PVmV) was studied on cultivated pepper between 2003 and 2005 in the major pepper producing areas of the six agro-ecological zones in Nigeria. The aphids were isolated, identified and their transmission ability determined. Population of aphid vectors increased progressively in all the agro-ecological zones from march at the onset of raining season reaching a peak in August and then declining from September at the on set of the dry season. The Humid forest and derived Savanna agro-ecological zones recorded highest mean population of aphids / leaf and types of aphid's species compared with other agro-ecological zones. Six species of aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer), Aphis gossipii (Glover), Aphis craccivora (Koch), Aphis spiraecola (Patch), Aphis fabae (blanchard), and Rhopalosiphum maidis (Fitch), were identified on the pepper fields surveyed in all the agro-ecological zones. There was no significant difference in the occurrence of M. persicae, A. gossipii, A. craccivora, and R. maidis while A. spiraecola and A. fabae that varied in occurrence in all the zones. Ability to transmit PVmV to a healthy pepper plants varied in all the identified aphid species but R. maidis was not able to transmit PVmV from infected to a healthy pepper plant. A more sustainable approach to controlling pepper viruses is by targeting the aphid vectors and preventing the vectors from reaching the crops because the aphid vectors which are virus specific are the major means of transmitting virus to healthy plant.

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