Study of fusarium wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris) resistance in recombinant inbred line population of chickpea

Wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris is a devastating disease of chickpea in India. One hundred and 26 Recombinant Inbred Lines (RILs) derived from a cross ICCV-2 x JG 62 along with six checks were evaluated for wilt resistance under unprotected natural infestation to identify the genetic sources for resistance. The genotypes were classified as highly resistant, moderately resistant, intermediate, susceptible and highly susceptible based on per cent plants wilted. Some of genotypes showed high resistance to fusarium wilt. The per cent plants wilted in different lines ranged from O to 100 per cent. A total of 45, 31, 25, 11 and 20 genotypes fell into highly resistant, moderately resistant, intermediate, susceptible and highly susceptible classes respectively. Less proportion of highly resistant genotypes were observed and it may be due to the fact that the wilt resistance was governed by recessive alleles. The resistant genotypes may be exploited for the development of resistant cultivars against wilt.