reaction of desi and kaboli chickpea genotypes to race 3 and 6 of ascochyta rabiei

the fungal disease, ascochyta blight, caused by ascochyta rabiei is a major yield limiting factor of chickpea (cicer arietinum l.) in many countries, including iran. identification of resistance sources against races or pathotypes of the fungus causing this disease is required for breeding resistant chickpea cultivars. reaction of six selected genotypes of iranian chickpea collection was evaluated against race 3 and 6 of the pathogen. the phenotypic evaluation of genotypes for their reactions against race 3 and 6 of the pathogen showed a varying degree of resistance against race 3. genotypes kc-218848 and kc-218740 were identified as relatively resistant, while none of the genotypes were resistant against race 6 of the pathogen. the comparison of trends of disease development against the two races also showed that genotypes were significantly different for their reaction to this disease. the trend of disease development against race 3 was much slower compared to race 6. the cluster analysis of trend of disease development among genotypes during four sequential weeks after inoculation with race 3, divided the genotypes into two distinct groups. resistant genotypes kc-218848 and kc-218740 were classified in one group and genotypes considered relatively susceptible including mcc-496, mcc-54, mcc-311 and mcc-133 were grouped separately in another cluster. these results suggested that development of ascochyta blight chickpea cultivars for regions dominated by race 3 of ascochyta rabiei is feasible.