Occurrence and Distribution of Chickpea Diseases in Central and Southern Parts of India

A survey was conducted in 2010-2011 rabi cropping season to obtain information on the distribution and incidence of chickpea diseases in respect to soil type, cultivar used, seed treatment in central and southern parts of India. Local cultivars predominated in most farmers’ fields (25% 48%). 63% of the farmers were practices seed treatment with fungicide. Dry root rot and collar rot diseases were found at all of the sites and incidence ranged from 8.9% 10.3% and 7.1% 10.5% respectively irrespective of cultivar type and locations. Incidence of wilt and black root rot disease ranged from 9.7% 13.8% and 6.6% 7.4% respectively. Black root rot disease was found in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka states only. The result indicated that dry root rot and collar rot is currently highly distributed in all surveyed chickpea growing areas of central and southern parts of India. Therefore, possible management options are vital to alleviate the problem.