Hemant Gurjar, N.L. Meena, Pokhar Rawal, R.H. Meena, Devendra Jain, R.A. Kaushik and Suresh Kumar
Abstract
Dry root rot caused by Rhizoctonia bataticola (Taub.) Butler is an emerging soil-borne disease that poses a serious threat to chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) production, particularly under high temperature and moisture stress conditions. Identification of resistant sources remains one of the most effective and sustainable approaches for disease management. Therefore, the present investigation was conducted to evaluate chickpea germplasm for resistance against dry root rot under artificially inoculated field conditions during the Rabi seasons of 2024â25 and 2025â26 at the Agronomy Instructional Farm, RCA-MPUAT, Udaipur, Rajasthan. Twenty-five chickpea varieties/genotypes were evaluated in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications under sick plot conditions. Disease incidence was recorded at flowering and pod formation stages using the 1â9 disease rating scale and genotypes were categorized into the five classes during the observation of Rabi season 2024-25 and 2025-26. None of the varieties/genotypes was found susceptible and highly susceptible. However, two chickpea varieties/genotypes (IST-2 and IST-26) was found to be resistant, twenty-one to be moderately resistant, and rest two were found tolerant to the disease. The study demonstrated substantial genetic variability in resistance to dry root rot among chickpea germplasm and identified IST-2 and IST-26 as valuable resistant sources for utilization in resistance breeding programmes and integrated disease management strategies aimed at developing durable dry root rot-resistant chickpea cultivars.