Efficacy of different fungicides against Ascochyta rabiei and Botrytis cinerea associated with chickpea

Ascochyta rabiei and Botrytis cinerea have been reported to cause blight and gray mold diseases in chickpea in different parts of the world and cause a significant economic loss to crop. In the present investigation, an in vitro evaluation of fungicides was conducted to find out the sensitivity and fungicide concentration in inhibiting the growth of Ascochyta rabiei and Botrytis cinerea. In vitro evaluation of fungicides revealed that, among five fungicides, bavistin (carbendazim 50 WP) a systemic fungicide was highly effective in inhibiting the mycelial growth with 100% inhibition at all the concentrations tested followed by baycor (bitertenol WP (25% w/w), with 98.88% inhibition at 500 ppm concentration and captan with 80% mycelia growth inhibition in A.rabiei. The fungicides such as chlorothalonil, copper oxychloride, and bitertanol at all concentrations were ineffective against B. cinerea. The fungicides that were effective under laboratory conditions could be further evaluated under field conditions to validate their efficacy and they could be incorporated as a component in integrated disease management in chickpea.