Screening of Advanced Chickpea Genotypes for Resistance to Ascochyta Blight under Field and Controlled Conditions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55627/pbulletin.005.01.1837Keywords:
Cicer arietinum, Ascochyta rabiei, disease resistance, genetic screening, plant breeding, germplasm evaluationAbstract
Ascochyta blight caused by Ascochyta rabiei ranks the most important foliar disease of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) in Pakistan and other important chickpea growing areas. The most sustainable management option is host plant resistance, but screening must be ongoing, as pathogen populations evolve and formerly useful resistance can break down. This chickpea germplasm assessment included 94 advanced chickpea genotypes from the four-breeding series consisting of NKCS, CTD, CTK and CYT. In the 2024-25 Rabi season, we did the field in augmented design with one replication and controlled assessment for Ascochyta blight resistance at National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad. A disease severity rating was performed with a standardised rating scale of 1–9, after the plants were artificially infected with virulent A. rabiei strains. Genetic variation was widespread in this respect. Under field conditions, 74 genotypes (78.7%) showed resistant reactions, of which 23 were highly resistant (score = 1). Under controlled conditions, 63 (67.0%) maintained resistance. The results of controlled-environment and field screening were positively and strongly correlated (Pearson’s r = 0.799, p < 0.001; R² = 0.638), indicating a significant level of agreement between them. One-way ANOVA indicated significant differences in mean disease severity among breeding series in both the field (F(3, 90) = 7.17, p < 0.001) and the controlled environment (F(3, 90) = 10.35, p < 0.001).The NKCS field showed the highest severity of 3.85 ± 1.69, while the CYT field showed 2.14 ± 1.49. Sixty-three genotypes were designated as resistant in both screening contexts, demonstrating consistent resistance under the conditions of this investigation.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Saad Aziz Ajmal, Hafiz Muhammad Asadullah, Umer Iqbal, Muhammad Jawad, Muhammad Aqeel Sarwar, Rana Abdul Samad, Usman Ahmed, Shahid Riaz Malik
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