Variation in Ethiopian barley landrace populations for resistance to barley leaf scald and netblotch

Abstract

One-hundred and eighty landrace populations and six-hundred single-head plants selected from 60 promising populations were evaluated for resistance to scald and netblotch at three locations in Ethiopia. Each accession was tested with and without the application of 50% of the recommended rate of fertilizer at planting. Plants were rated for disease attack two to four times during the season. Both diseases were enhanced by the application of fertilizer and were more severe at the testing sites of Holetta and Bekoji than at Sheno. The difference in disease resistance among and within populations was considerable. Moreover, populations from Arsi and Bale tend to be more susceptible to scald but more resistant to netblotch than populations from other regions. Populations collected from higher altitudes were more resistant to scald, but susceptible to netblotch, than were populations from lower altitudes. The paper illustrates approaches to the identification of valuable genotypes from landrace populations that can be incorporated into a breeding programme for the development of improved varieties with resistance to the principal diseases of barley in Ethiopia.