Batoul Haytham Nayef¹, Mohammad Kassem^1*, Nader Assad2 and Naem Al-Houssien³

¹ Department of Field Crops, Faculty of Agricultural, Homs University, Syria.

² General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research, Field Crops Research Administration, Syria.

(*Corresponding author: Mohammad Kassem, Email:  agromohammad@gmail.com )

Received: 13/ 1/ 2026      Accepted: 24/ 2/ 2026

Abstract: 

Rhizctonia bataticola is one of the most important emerging pathogens affecting chickpea crops in most growing regions, and its importance has increased year after year due to prevailing drought conditions. This disease is considered a drought-associated pathogen. It began spreading and expanding in Syria at the beginning of the current decade. Therefore, this research aimed to investigate the prevalence of dry root rot on chickpeas in various fields in the northern (Aleppo) and central (Hama, Al-Ghab, and Idlib) regions of Syria in 2024. By determining the percentage of infected fields, the infection rate per field, the disease incidence, and evaluating local varieties against the pathogenic fungus in the field, the results of the field survey showed the prevalence of dry root rot on chickpeas in most chickpea-growing areas in both regions. The percentage of infected fields in the studied areas reached 87%. The percentage of fields classified as high and medium risk of infection in Aleppo fields, according to the disease index, was 44.8%, while it was only 3.2% for low-risk fields. In contrast, all fields in the central region were classified as high risk, i.e., 100%. On the other hand, chickpea varieties cultivated in Syria showed different responses to the pathogen in the adult plant stage under natural infection conditions. The reaction type of varieties Ghab 2, 3, and 5 WERE HS high susceptibility, while Ghab 1 and 4 were MR moderately susceptible. Thirty-nine fungal isolates of R. bataticola, the causative agent of dry root rot disease in chickpeas, were isolated from field samples from the study areas.

Keywords: R. bataticola, dry root rot, chickpeas, Syria.

 Full paper in Arabic: PDF