ARS | Publication request: Rhizoctonia seed, seedling, and wet root rot

Submitted to: Compendium of Chickpea and Lentil Diseases and Pests
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: January 1, 2011
Publication Date: January 1, 2011
Citation: Porter, L. 2011. Rhizoctonia Seed, Seedling, and Wet Root Rot. Compendium of Chickpea and Lentil Diseases and Pests. 28-29.

Technical Abstract: Wet root rot caused by Rhizoctonia solani Kühn can cause seed and seedling rot of both lentil and chickpea as well as many other agricultural crops worldwide. The pathogen is favored in cool, sandy soil with high organic matter under no-till or reduced-till soil management practices. Survival spores of the pathogen consist of black sclerotia that can survive in the soil for years. Characteristic reddish to dark brown sunken lesions on the roots or underground stem can develop at any plant stage resulting in stunted plants with the lower leaves turning yellow, and the yellowing progressing to upper leaves overtime. R. solani can be identified by its hyaline mycelia that branch at right angles with small constrictions of the mycelia at the point of branching. R. solani is both a soil and seedborne pathogen of lentil and chickpea but soilborne inoculum is considered the primary inoculum source. Good seedbed preparation, crop rotation, disease-free seed, well drained soils, and tillage are the principal means of limiting root disease in lentils and chickpeas to this pathogen.