Diversity for Disease Resistance in Barley Landraces from Syria and Jordan

A number of barley landraces collected in Syria and Jordan were evaluated for resistance to yellow rust, powdery mildew, scald and covered smut by inoculating single-head progenies with local pathogen strains during two years of field tests. A large diversity in resistance was observed for each pathogen both between populations of different collection sites as well as between head progenies within collection sites. The level of resistance varied from absolute and partial resistant types up to highly susceptible lines. No consistent association between the environmental conditions of the collection site and the level of resistance of the landrace-lines could be found.