Among the cul tivated for age crops, alfalfa is very important in I ran. Nearly 28 years ago, symptoms of alfalfa wi tches’ broom ( AWB) were report ed from Jiroft , southern of Iran. Since t hen, the disease was report ed from other parts of Iran and the epi demi c of AWB was recorded i n Chahgeer, Yazd in 1997. Now AWB di sease i s wi despread all over the count ry especially in tropical and subt ropi cal areas. The phytopl asma st rains r eported fr om alfalfa in Iran were classi fied in 16SrI , 16SrI I, 16Sr VI and 16SrXI I groups. T he maj or symptoms reported are l itt le leaf, i nter node short eni ng, flower virescence, phyl lody, proli fer ati on and st eril ity, wi tches’ broom, leaf yellowing, leaf curl ing and death. Orosius al bici nctus was i dentifi ed as vect or of the di sease in Fars and Yazd provinces. Prosopis farctaand Cardaria dr abawere natur al host plants of the AWB. The disease reduced plant heights, leaf area, shoot dry and fresh weight and seed yields of alfal fa cr ops. So far no effective contr ol strategi es are in practi ce; however use of dense pl anti ng and field resistant variet ies are recommended for prevent ing AWB di sease.
