Effect of phosphorus fertilizer treatments on incidence of Fusarium root-rot/wilt disease complex, and on yield components of lupine, chickpea and lentil crops.

In greenhouse and field experiments, conducted in two successive winter seasons 2007/2009 the effect of phosphorus fertilizer treatments on incidence of wilt disease  of lupine, chickpea and lentil, as well as yield and yield component  was studied. Application of Phosphorus fertilizer (100 and 200 kg/fed; as super phosphate (15.5% P2O5) before planting) caused a reduction in incidence and severity of wilt diseases on plants of the three legume crops either in greenhouse and field experiments. In field experiments, results indicated that the most effective treatment was phosphorus at 100 and 200 kg / fed) respectively, which reduced the wilt diseases. Phosphorus fertilizer significantly increased yield characters i.e., plant height, number of branches, number of pods, seeds yield / plant and weight of 100 seeds.