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India produces 5.7 million tonnes of chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) from 100,000 hectares of cultivated plants annually (Directorate of Economics and Statistics, 2020). During June-October, 2022 and 2023, chilli cv. Pusa Jwala cultivated at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi developed irregular, necrotic lesions surrounded by a chlorotic halo and brown necrosis at the leaf tip followed by defoliation (Figure 1). Disease incidence was 52% over an area of c. 800 m2. Bacterial colonies isolated from ten infected leaf samples, collected randomly across three fields, were circular, 2–3 mm, convex and greyish to white after 48 hours at 28±1◦ C on nutrient agar. They were positive in 3% KOH and oxidase tests (Schaad et al., 2001). They pro-