Blight Disease of Chickpea

Blight disease caused by Mycosphaerella rabiei is the major constraint for chickpea production worldwide. Pathogenicity of pathogen and the analysis of its genetic diversity in pathogen population are necessary for management of the disease. Different strategies such as seed treatment, application of resistant cultivars, adjustment sowing date and integration of resistant genotype with post-infection application of fungicides have been recommended to reduce the losses caused by the disease. The use of resistant cultivars is the best management strategy to minimize yield losses due to blight. But because of the considerable variation in pathogenicity of the fungal population and partial resistance in germplasm of chickpea the effectiveness of resistant cultivars is limited. Different aspects of the biology, pathogenic and genetic diversity, resistance inheritance and the management options are discussed in this paper.