Pathogen Identification and Evaluation of Chickpea Varieties for Resistance Against the Pathogens in West Shewa, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L) is one of the economically important grain legume crops in Africa particularly in Ethiopia which widely grown in marginal soils and usually as rotational crops in highland and semi-highland regions of the country and also as a source of cash to the farmers and foreign currency in Ethiopia. However, its production is affected by many pest and diseases. Among them wilt or root rot diseases are considered as the major problems in chickpea production. Therefore, the present study was conducted to identify chickpea wilt or root rot causing pathogens and evaluate of chickpea varieties resistance against identified pathogens in West Shewa, Oromia regional state, Ethiopia. The pathogenicity test revealed that three fungal pathogens, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium solani and Rhizoctonia bataticola were identified as wilt/root rot causing pathogens. The percentage frequency of occurrence of Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium solani and Rhizoctonia bataticola regardless of the districts were 50.7%, 26.76% and 14.08%, respectively. Among seven chickpea varieties, host resistance were evaluated against the identified wilt /root rot causing fungal pathogens, the variety, Arerti was the only resistant to all identified wilt causing pathogenic isolates. The varieties, Arerti and Shasho were resistant and Habru was moderately resistant reaction to Fusarium oxysporum. But local and Dz-10-4 cultivars were found to be highly susceptible. The cultivars, Arerti, Acos dube and Dz-10-4 were found to be resistant and Shasho and Chefe were moderately resistant to Rhizoctonia bataticola. Except Arerti variety, all inoculated varieties were susceptible to Fusarium solani isolate. Only local variety was highly susceptible to all identified pathogenic isolates. The remaining varieties were susceptible to tested pathogenic isolates with varying degrees. Therefore, from the artificial inoculation test, resistance of chickpea varieties to specific isolates could be further deployed for sustainable wilt or root rots management. Further, the effective and feasible integrated management options need to be developed on chickpea wilt /root rot diseases in the country. Keywords: Chickpea Wilt or Root rots Pathogens, isolation, varieties, host resistance. DOI: 10.7176/ALST/73-04 Publication date: April 30th 201