<![CDATA[Chili pepper is frequently affected by yellowing disease symptoms associated with whitefly infestation, reducing plant performance under field conditions. Environmentally friendly strategies are needed to suppress vector infestation and disease symptom development. This study evaluated the effectiveness of local multispore arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in reducing whitefly infestation and yellowing disease symptoms in field-grown Kopay chili pepper. The experiment was conducted at the experimental field and Biology Laboratory of Payakumbuh State Agricultural Polytechnic, West Sumatra, Indonesia. A randomized complete block design was used with four AMF doses: 0, 50, 70, and 100 g per plant. Observed variables included leaf-sucking insect (LSI) infestation, yellowing disease symptom (YDS) incidence, and AMF root colonization. Disease assessment was based on visual field symptoms without molecular confirmation. The results showed that local multispore AMF reduced LSI infestation and YDS incidence. The 100 g AMF treatment produced the lowest LSI infestation from 32% in the control to 7%. This treatment also reduced yellowing disease symptom incidence from 40% in the control to 5%, while AMF-treated plants showed high root colonization ranging from 56.7% to 61.7%. These findings indicate that local multispore AMF, particularly at 100 g per plant, has potential as a biological input to support environmentally friendly management of yellowing disease symptoms in chili pepper. However, because disease diagnosis was based on visual symptoms only, further studies using molecular confirmation of the causal pathogen are needed.]]>
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