The tolerance of the some registered chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Varieties against ascochyta blight (Ascochytarabiei) in the Eastern-Mediterranean region

This research was conducted to evaluate the disease tolerance/resistance of 34 registered chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) varieties in the disease nurseries under winter climatic conditions of Eastern-Mediterranean region located at the Eastern Mediterranean Research Institute, Adana. During 2014-2015 sowing season, four different disease nurseries for 4 different path types were established with the registered chickpea varieties for regular observations on tolerance of the varieties. In trials, 34 registered chickpea varieties were evaluated and compared to Ascochyta blight disease sensitive control variety ‘Canitez’. In this study, artificially inoculated disease nurseries were established in Adana location which includes four different Ascochyta blight pathotypes that were identified in the Turkish legume plantation areas. The disease observations were performed on the day 7, day 14 and day 21 based on 1-9 disease scale to identify and evaluate the suitability of the registered varieties to the regional conditions and also to the winter sowing conditions. From the disease nurseries established by the artificial inoculation of four different pathotypes, the lowest scores were obtained from the applications of Pathotype 1 while the highest scores were recorded from the applications of Pathotype 4.