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Pathogens
Pathogens in chickpea are the main cause for yield loss (up to 90%). One example is ''Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cicero'' that is present in most of the major pulse crop growing areas and causes regular yield damages between 10-15%. From 1978 until 1995 the worldwide number of pathogens has increased from 49 to 172 of which 35 have been recorded in India. These pathogens origin from the groups of bacteria, fungi, viruses, mycoplasma and nematodes and show a high genotypic variation. The most widely distributed pathogens are Ascochyta rabiei (35 countries), ''Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cicero (32 countries) Uromyces ciceris-arietini (25 countries), bean (pea) leaf roll virus (23 countries) and Macrophomina phaseolina'' (21 countries). The stagnation of yield improvement over the last decades is linked to the susceptibility to pathogens. Research for yield improvement such as an attempt to increase yield from 0.8t/ha to 2t/ha by breeding cold resistent varieties, are always linked with pathogen resistance breeding as pathogens such as Ascochyta rabiei and ''Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cicero'' flourish in conditions such as cold temperature. Recently research started selecting favourable genes for pathogen resistance and othe traits through Marker-assisted selection(MAS). The use of this method is a promising sign for the future to achieve significant yield improvements.