​Effect of Nutrients on Wilt in Chickpea

Background: Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) contributes 18% of the global production of grain legume and serves as an important source of dietary protein. Fusarium wilt, caused by soil borne fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceri appears to be the most devastating diseases of chickpea throughout the world. It is one of the important limiting factors of chickpea production in India. The disease causes substantial yield losses which may reach even 100 per cent under favorable weather conditions. Methods: Pot culture experiments were conducted at Rajasthan Agricultural Research Institute, Durgapura, Jaipur during rabi 2014-15 and 2015-16 to study the effect of nutrients on wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceri (Padwick) in chickpea (Cicer arirtinum). In the first experiment, the treatments comprised of four nitrogen levels-viz. 0, 15, 20 and 25 kg/ha and four phosphorus levels- viz. 0, 30, 40 and 50 kg/ha tried in sixteen treatment combinations. Surface sterilized seeds of chickpea cultivar L-550 were sown in each pot. After sowing, 400 ml water was supplied to each pot; there after watering was done at an interval of 6 days. In second experiment, the treatments comprised of 7 micronutrients viz. zinc, manganese, calcium, copper, cobalt, iron and nickel used at the rate of 10mg/kg of soil. Chickpea cultivar L-550 was used as a test crop. Result: Disease incidence was recorded periodically commencing 15 days after sowing and was continued up to 55 days after sowing. Levels of nitrogen application had increased wilt incidence successively in both the years. Whereas, a reverse trend was observed with the application of phosphorus, incidence of wilt was decreased with increasing levels of phosphorus. Application of zinc and calcium reduced the wilt incidence significantly over check. Zinc was found to be most effective in minimizing the disease incidence.