Title : Evaluation of Ethiopian commercial cultivars, Candidate and differential lines against yellow rust (Puccinia striiformis f.sp. tritici) in Southeastern Ethiopia
Abstract:
Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most important cereal and food security crops in Ethiopia. The crop is widely grown by subsistent farmers under rain-fed conditions and over one-third of cereal farm households are dependent on wheat farming. The mean wheat yield in the country is estimated to be 2.67 t ha-1 which is well below the world mean yield (3 tons/ha) and very low compared to that of the research station (6-7 tons/ha). This is due to losses caused by biotic and abiotic constraints. Among the biotic stresses, wheat rust especially, yellow rust diseases caused by Puccinia striiformis f.sp. are the most bottlenecks for wheat production. A field experiment was conducted to evaluate commercial and advanced wheat lines for their resistance to prevailing rust populations and identify effective resistance genes against the yellow rust types Ethiopian wheat trap nursery experiment was conducted in 2022 across multiple yellow rust hot spot locations including Bekoji, Asassa, Kulumsa, Meraro, and Arsi Robe district. It encompassed a total of 81 commercial and candidate varieties of bread and durum wheat alongside 17 yellow rust differential lines hosts. The experiment results showed that Most of durum wheat varieties display that moderately resistant to susceptible reaction to the current prevalent yellow rust race. Several commercially varieties and candidate lies like Meraro, Senkeagne, Tay, Tsehay, Bichan, Balcha, Daka, BW-192346 and BW-192347 exhibited moderately resistance to the current dominant yellow rust population. The most popular bread wheat cultivars like Kakeba, Shorim, Ogolcho, Kubsa, Hidassie, Kingbird, and Digalu, are highly susceptible to yellow rust therefore, fungicide application remains crucial. Among differential lines Yr10, Yr15 Lassik(-Yr5) and Lassik(+Yr5) maintained effectiveness against prevalent yellow rust races across all testing locations.
Key words: bread wheat, disease, yellow rust Puccinia striiformis f.sp. tritici, Commercial Wheat Cultivars, Differential Lines.
