In Western Canada, there was a great expansion in chickpea cultivation from 1995 to 2001. During this period, chickpea production increased 350-fold. Within this short period, Canada became the largest exporter of chickpea in the world. However, since 2001, chickpea production has declined because of the high risk of the extremely aggressive disease called ascochyta blight caused by fungus Ascochyta rabiei (Fig. 4). This disease is considered to be the most damaging disease of chickpea in the world. In Saskatchewan, under favourable conditions, this disease can cause 70% or more yield loss even in resistant varieties (Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture 2007, Chang et al. 2008).
 

Fig. 4. Infection process of fungus Ascochyta rabiei. [Modified from original image located at http://www.agriculture.gov.sk.ca/]

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