Biological control of fusarium wilt of chickpea using Rhizophagus irregularis fungus and nitroxin bio-fertilizer

In this study, the effect of Rhizophagus irregulariss mycorrhiza and nitroxin bio-fertilizers alone and in combination form was evaluated on control of chickpea wilt disease caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris. Evaluation of effectiveness of these treatments was done through measurement of chlorophyll and carotenoid pigments, and disease severity. A factorial experiment based on randomized complete block design by eight treatments with three replications was conducted under greenhouse condition. Our results showed that the amount of chlorophyll and carotenoid pigments were significantly decreased in infected plants without biofertilizer treatment while disease severity was increased. The highest increase in  chlorophyll a and carotenoid pigments was observed in nitroxin treatment while the highest increase in  chlorophyll b and ab was recorded in mycorrhizae treatment. Approximately, the maximum change in measured parameters was related to mycorrhiza treatment while all treatments were able to increase yield components compared to control plant. The results of disease severity assessment in infected plant inoculated with bio-fertilizers showed that application of these bio-fertilizers in combination form caused a significant reduction in disease severity. Based on these results, use of both bio-fertilizers combined with soil could increase plant resistance to disease stress by the  increase of yield components