Screening Chickpea Genotypes against Fusarium Wilt Disease under Controlled Conditions

Abstract

Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Ciceris is one of the economical important vascular root diseases affecting chickpea which can cause up to 90% yield loss during crop growth stages. In the present investigation, 71 chickpea genotypes including two controls viz., JG315 (highly resistant) and JG 62 (highly susceptible) were screened by artificial inoculation of pathogen causing Fusarium wilt under controlled conditions in poly house using Completely Randomized Design with two replications during Rabi 2022 with intention to identify potentially wilt resistant genotype (s). Disease incidence was evaluated across distinct developmental phases, specifically the seedling and reproductive stages, employing the metric of percent disease incidence. At the seedling stage, out of the 71 entries, 24 genotypes displayed resistance to the disease, 38 genotypes exhibited moderate resistance, five genotypes found to be moderately susceptible, three susceptible, and only one genotype showed high susceptibility. Upon reaching the reproductive stage, the disease reactions changed drastically as only one genotype was found resistant, 14 genotypes moderate resistance, 17 moderately susceptible, 25 susceptible and 14 highly susceptible.