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Ascochyta Blight Verification Trials
Ascochyta blight is prevalent in the wetter areas of Syria particularly at the time
of earl) sowing. This disease is commonly found in West Hauran, Al Ghab, and
Tar El Oula (West Hama). It is also found in the north-west areas of Syria. The
spread of this disease in spring chickpea ranges between 5 and 30%. ICARDA
sent four new lines to be planted and tested in a joint verification trial; three of
these were winter lines: ILC 482 (Turkish origin), ILC 195 (Russian) and ILC
215 (American). The spring variety in the trial was ILC 263. Local landrace was
used as check.
The experiment was planted in 1979 at several locations in Syria (in Jillin,
Ezra, Horns and Hama) for the first time to test for resistance to blight. This trial
was conducted again in the 1980 season.
Line ILC 482 was 100% resistant to blight; its yield ranged from 1800 to 3000
kg/ha. Lines ILC 195 and ILC 215 had a very low percentage (3 to 5%) of
infection. These results are in contrast to the local landrace which cannot tolerate
cold and has a low resistance to blight (75% infection). These trials were conducted
in the 1981 season, in addition to other sites, at Himo and Al Ghab to ensure
that the results obained were reliable. Line ILC 482 was also tested in the spring
for comparison with the local landrace. The results have not yet been obtained.
Chickpea Research by the Directorate of Agriculture
For 6 years the Directorpte has planted observation row plots of several chickpea
cultivars obtained from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to study
their morphologica! and technc!ogical characteristics. Nine promising cultivars
were selected and planted for comparison with the local landrace. Four cultivars,
Borvez, Coliacan (Mexican), Nobokhwa and Registered 466 (Spanish), had
large seed, wrinkled seed coat, white color and good cooking quality. Other lines
studied included 12-71-!0fl 1, 12-71-05473, 12-71-10016, 12-71-10014 and
12-71-10031. The seeds of these cultivars were medium to large, the seed coat
was wrinkled and the seed color faded. This experiment was planted at Jillin,
Ezra, Al Ghab and Himo. The planting took place in February for two to three
seasons. The local landrace was highest yielding at Jillin, Ezra and Himo (Table
2). The Mexican and Spanish cultivars outyielded the other cultivars due to
favorable morphological characteristics. Nobokhwa outyielded the others in the
wetter areas.
Another experiment compared 10 lines of winter chickpea from ICARDA.
These were planted in the 1980 season at Jillin. In this experiment, ILC 482
outyielded the others due to its high resistance to blight. This experiment was