Botrytis grey mould of chickpea: a review of biology, epidemiology, and disease management

Abstract

Botrytis grey mould (BGM), caused by Botrytis cinerea Pers. ex. Fr., is an economically important disease of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), especially in areas where cool, cloudy, and humid weather persists. Several epidemics of BGM causing complete crop loss in the major chickpea-producing countries have been reported. The pathogen B. cinerea mainly survives between seasons on infected crop debris and seeds. Despite extensive investigations on pathological, physiological, and molecular characteristics of B. cinerea causing grey mould type diseases on chickpea and several other hosts, the nature of infection processes and genetic basis of pathogen variability have not been clearly establishe..