Vol. 12, Issue 8 (2023)

The present study was undertaken in order to find out the prevalence and incidence of the collar rot in chickpea in seven districts of Marathwada region of Maharashtra caused by Sclerotium rolfsii, a roving survey done in Aurangabad, Beed, Hingoli, Jalna, Latur, Nanded, Osmanabad and Parbhani districts district during Rabi season of 2014-15. Collar rot is often seen in the seedling stage, particularly under high moist condition. Maximum incidence was recorded in the field of Marathwada region, the collar rot incidence was recorded in the range of 6.5 to 27 per cent, the highest incidence of collar rot (27%) was noticed at Vasmat (District Hingoli) and minimum disease incidence (6.5%) was recorded at Matrewadi, Tahsil Badnapur (District Jalna). For the laboratory experimental studies, standard potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium was used for isolation and culturing S. rolfsii. Standard tissue isolation technique was followed for the isolation of the fungus. Later, the bit of hyphal tip of fungal growth was transferred to PDA slants for obtained pure culture. The pathogen was inoculated through soil inoculation, seed inoculation and seedling inoculation for testing pathogenicity.