Screening of fungicides in vitro and seed treatment against fusarium wilt of chickpea caused by Fusarium oxysporum F. sp. ciceris

Abstract

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an important rabi season pulse crop in India belonging to leguminous family. It is good source of protein and possesses nitrogen fixing ability. Various diseases affect the chickpea viz. Ascochyta blight, Phytophthora root rot, Botrytis grey mold, Damping off, Pythium rot/seed rot; Rust and Fusarium wilt in which Fusarium causes severe yield loss of about 60 percent. Among the ten fungicides tested in laboratory, Benlate, Companion, Bavistin, Thiram and Chlorothalonil completely (100%) inhibited the growth of the fungus while seven fungicides were used for seed treatment, where all of them were found significantly superior over control and Bavistin gave best result for seed treatment.