In Tunisia, broomrape (
Orobanche foetida
Poir.) causes
major drawbacks especially in faba bean (
Vicia faba
L.) Chickpea (
Cicer arietinum
L.) suffers little damage
compared to faba bean, but with the winter sowing
chickpea cultivars, broomrape might become a serious
problem for chickpea cultivation. The development of
resistant cultivars remains the most efficient way to solve
this problem. The behavior of six chickpea genotypes to
O. foetida was studied under field natural infestation and
artificial inoculation in pots and petri dishes in greenhouse
conditions. During the cropping seasons 2010-2011
and 2012-2013 the level of infection was very low. The
number of emerged parasites per host plant varied from
0.18 to 0.43 and the incidence from 6.5% to 23%. Among
the six tested genotypes, G1, G2, and G4 showed partial
resistance to
O. foetida with low number and dry weight
of emerged parasite and high grain yield compared to the
other genotypes, although no significant differences were
recorded. In pot experiments, the number and total dry
weight of broomrape per plant were lower for G1 and G2
genotypes than the other genotypes. Parasitism does not
affect significantly the shoot dry weight and number of
pods of these genotypes. The total chlorophyll content was
significantly reduced under infestation in all genotypes.
In Petri dishes experiments, results showed that percent
germination of
O. foetida seeds varied from 49% to 65% and
does not play a role in the resistance of chickpea genotypes.
In contrast, broomrape attachment was lower and slower
for the genotypes G1, G2, and G4 than the other genotypes.
Resistance in chickpea genotypes was characterized by
few parasite attachments on roots and a limited growth of
established tubercles. No necrosis of attached tubercles
was observed in the different experiments.
