Morphological characterization of kurnool strains of chickpea collar rot casual agent Sclerotium Rolfsii Sacc.

Sclerotium rolfsii causing collar rot is a major disease affecting crop stand and yield in chickpea. A comprehensive study was performed to report the variability in Sclerotium rolfsii isolates present in a major chick pea growing area, Kurnool District of Andhra Pradesh. A roving survey was conducted to collect 50 samples and was used for isolation of disease causing pathogen. 18 isolates of Sclerotium rolfsii were isolated to study the variability in morphological and cultural characteristics in the present study. The variation noted for mycelial traits and sclerotial characters were very huge.