Abstract only

The widespread use of megavarieties following the Green Revolution has resulted in increased genetic uniformity in wheat varieties under commercial production in specific areas. Increased use of local varieties in breeding programs could enlarge the genetic variation and thereby reduce exposure to unknown threats. The aim of the present work was to test Moroccan bread wheat landraces and cultivars for responses to stem rust at Njoro, Kenya during 2010-11 and to stripe rust at Annoceur (2009-10) and Meknès (2010-11) in Morocco. A group of 144 landraces were evaluated at Annoceur and 60 of them were tested at Meknès and Njoro, in addition to 12 control cultivars. The prevalent diseases at Annoceur were stripe rust and leaf rust; 4 and 20 landraces were respectively immune to each disease. The evaluations at Meknès and Njoro revealed that 15 of 60 landraces were highly resistant to stem rust, but were susceptible to stripe rust at Meknès. One line was resistant to both diseases. Evaluation of the 12 control cultivars showed that the most widely grown varieties were susceptible to both diseases, except one that was highly susceptibile to stem rust, but immune to stripe rust. Thus introgression of resistance to stem rust should be considered an urgent priority.

Global Wheat Program

English

Lucia Segura

INT2843

CIMMYT Staff Publications Collection