Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2018) 7(8): 894-903 894 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2018.708.102 Studies on the Association of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceri with Seeds of Chickpea R.K. Gangwar 1 *, Deepak Jain 2 , T.P. Singh 1 and S.S. Rathore 1 1 Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Chomu, Jaipur (Rajasthan)-303 702, India 2 Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Udaipur (Rajasthan)-313 011, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L) is known as Gram or Bengal gram or Spanish pea considered to be the third most important pulse crop of the world. It is cultivated from ancient time in different parts of the world. In India it is an important source of protein in human diet and still the demand of pulses is very high because the majority of people are vegetarian. Chickpea plays a significant role in sustaining the production of subsistence farming system. It is grown on 8.35 million hectares with the production 7.17 million tonnes and productivity 859 kg/ha during 2015-16 in India (Anonymous, 2016). The Chickpea wilt caused by F. oxysporum f. sp. ciceri is one of the most important seed and soil-borne disease in India. The study on association of the pathogen with chickpea seeds showed that the viable mycelium fragments, micro and macro-conidia of the pathogen were present on the seed surface of all susceptible and two resistant varieties/ germplasms in seed washing test. The pathogen was recovered from the untreated and sodium hypochlorite treated seeds of all susceptible varieties/ germplasms in the range of 10.67 – 18.67 and 5.33–11.33 per cent, respectively in standard blotter method and 8.67–17.00 and 5.00–10.67 per cent, respectively in agar plate method, whereas the seeds of resistant varieties RSG-895 and Phule G-5 also carried the pathogen in untreated and sodium hypochlorite treated seeds. The recovery of pathogen was ranged from 10.0–20.0 per cent from the seed coat, 2.0–8.0 per cent from cotyledons and 2.0–6.0 per cent from embryonal axis of the susceptible varieties/germplasms. Whereas resistant variety RSG-895 carried the pathogen to an extent of 4.0 per cent from seed coat only. The pre-emergence infection of the pathogen was recorded by 6.0–14.0 per cent in different susceptible varieties/ germplasms and 4.0 per cent in resistant varieties during seedling symptom test. The pathogen was survived for 10–15 months in susceptible and 3–5 months in resistant varieties/ germplasms seeds. The pre and post-emergence losses due to the pathogen were ranged from 7.0–12.0 per cent and 6.0–10.0 per cent, respectively in susceptible varieties/ germplasms under field conditions in poly bags. The typical wilt symptoms have developed after 18–22 days of sowing and the average seed infection and seed transmission ratio was 6.08:1 under field conditions in susceptible varieties/ germplasms. Keywords Chickpea wilt, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceri, Seed borne, Seed transmission. Accepted: 08 July 2018 Available Online: 10 August 2018 Article Info International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 7 Number 08 (2018) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com