Occurrence of chickpea wilt complex and its causal agents in Jammu

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) ranks first among Rabi pulses occupying an area of 4.0 thousand hectare with productivity of 6.27 q/ha. Wilt complex, which manifests itself by wilting or root rots, is one of the devastating and challenging diseases which can damage the crop at any stage. An extensive survey was under taken during Rabi 2004–05 and 2005–06 in major chickpea growing districts of Jammu division viz., Jammu, Kathua and Udhampur to ascertain the status of chickpea wilt complex. It was revealed that the disease was prevalent at all the locations, and the incidence varied from 7.92 to 78.50 per cent thereby indicating seriousness of the problem. The mean disease incidence recorded during March, 2006 in Jammu, Kathua and Udhampur districts was 24.31, 16.74 and 13.34 per cent, respectively. The samples of wilted plants collected from different locations of three districts of Jammu division revealed the association of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. ciceri, Fusarium solani and Rhizoctonia solani with the wilted plants.