COMPARATIVE EFFICACY OF DIFFERENT FUNGICIDES AGAINST FUSARIUM WILT OF CHICKPEA (CICER ARIETINUM L.)

Abstract

Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris (Foc) is the most serious and widespread disease of chickpea, causing a 100% loss under favorable conditions. Fourteen fungicides were evaluated against wilt pathogen In vitro with five different concentrations ranging from 1-10000 ppm. Among these only Carbendazim and Thiophanate-methyl was found as the most effective at all used concentrations. Other fungicides like Aliette, Nativo, Hombre-excel and Dividend star were found to be moderately effective. Whereas, remaining fungicides were ineffective against the targeted pathogen. Generally, a positive co-relation was observed between increasing concentrations of the tested fungicides and inhibition of Foc. Based on In vitro results Carbendazim, Thiophanate-methyl, Aliette, Dividend-star, Hombre-excel, Score and Nativo were selected for pot and field experiments. The higher concentrations of the few fungicides completely inhibited the pathogen as well as found to be phytotoxic and suppressed the plant growth while lower concentrations promoted the growth of chickpea plants. On over all bases, the Carbendazim and Thiophanate-methyl, followed by Aliette and Nativo were more effective in reducing the impact of pathogen as well as enhancing the plant growth in greenhouse experiment. Under field conditions, all fungicides except Score remarkably decreased the disease development and subsequently increased the plant growth as well as grain yield as compared to untreated plants.