ABSTRACT
Chickpea is the third most important pulse crop after bean and pea on a world basis but of first importance in the South-Asia and Mediterranean basin. Global yields of chickpea have been stagnant for the last fifty years in spite of using various conventional and molecular breeding approaches and extensive use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. The productivity of chickpea may be considerably improved if the adverse effects of fungal diseases such as Ascochyta blight, dry root rot, Fusarium wilt, collar rot and Botrytis Gray mold are reduced. Actinobacteria are known for their efficacy not only for crop protection, plant growth-promotion and production but also for maintaining soil health. Actinobacteria are also known to produce metabolites having fungicidal, insecticidal and PGP traits. In this chapter, how actinobacteria and their metabolites are exploited for the management of fungal diseases of chickpea are explored.
