Helminthosporium leaf blight resistance and agronomic performance of wheat genotypes across warm regions of South Asia

Helminthosporium leaf blight (HLB) is the most important disease constraint to wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivation in the eastern Gangetic Plains of South Asia. A Helminthosporium Monitoring Nursery (HMN) including potential adapted and exotic sources of HLB resistance was developed in Bangladesh, India and Nepal to assess the stability of genetic resistance across locations. The 8th, 9th and 10th HMN assessed the HLB resistance and agronomic traits of 17 wheat genotypes across 20 environments of Bangladesh, India and Nepal in the 1999‐2000, 2000‐2001 and 2001‐2002 cropping seasons, respectively. The area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) for HLB, grain yield, thousand‐kernel weight (TKW), days to heading, days to maturity, and plant height were examined. The 17 genotypes showed a range of variability for disease and agronomic characters. Disease severity (AUDPC) differed in the 3 years and showed the highest values in 2002. The increase in AUDPC in 2002 caused the lowest grain yield, with an average 18% reduction due to HLB. A few genotypes (SW 89‐5422, Yangmai‐6 and Ning 8201) appeared to have stable HLB resistance across environments. However, most of the higher‐yielding genotypes, except BL 1883, were unstable. The results suggest that careful selection of HLB resistance with acceptable grain yield, TKW and plant height may be possible using the wheat genotypes included in the HMN.     

Evaluation of elite bread wheat lines for resistance to blast disease in Bangladesh

Euphytica - Genetic approaches often lead to the most cost-effective and efficient means to improve crops, especially those grown widely. But for most crops, cotton included, genetic improvement...     

Delivering rust resistant wheat to farmers: a step towards increased food security

An important step towards reducing the vulnerability of wheat in Africa and Asia to the Ug99 race of the stem rust pathogen is the substitution of current susceptible varieties with superior resistant varieties. In the 2008?C2009 cropping season both seed multiplication and dissemination of Ug99 resistant varieties were initiated in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, India, Nepal and Pakistan. Ug99 resistant varieties must occupy about 5% of the area sown to wheat in each country to ensure sufficient seed to displace current popular varieties. Because of the underdeveloped seed industry and small farm sizes in most of these countries, various strategies are being applied for rapid multiplication and dissemination of resistant varieties. Approaches being used include pre-release seed multiplication while candidate resistant lines are being tested in national evaluation trials and farmer participatory selection. Resistant varieties are already released in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt and Pakistan and more varieties are expected to be released in 2010 in these and other countries. Our results show that some new Ug99 resistant lines have yield superiority over dominant local varieties. Activities and progress in seed multiplication using existing and new Ug99 resistant varieties are discussed.