Identification of New Donors for Spot Blotch Resistance in Cultivated Wheat Germplasm

One thousand four hundred and eighty three spring wheat germplasm ( Triticum aestivum L.) lines comprising Indian as well as exotic lines were screened for resistance to spot blotch disease during winter 2014-15 at hot spot locations i.e., Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi and Uttar Banga Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Cooch Behar. Severity of the disease at different stages beginning from tillering to dough stage was recorded. Location Severity Index (LSI) of Varanasi was higher than Cooch Behar. Twenty eight accessions were resistant or highly resistant at both locations. These 28 accessions were validated during the winter season (2015–2016). These germplasm were also evaluated at four environments for agronomic traits. Out of 28 accessions, seven (IC564121, IC529684, IC443669, IC443652, IC529962, IC548325 and EC178071-331) were highly resistant across the locations and over the years of study. These accessions comprised one exotic and six indigenous accessions belonging to Uttarakhand and Haryana. Two lines (IC529962 and IC443652) had higher yield than the best check at all the locations. These lines showing highly resistant reaction alongwith wider adaptability can be expedited for direct cultivation or for the development of high yielding and disease resistant cultivars. These lines can also be used for identification of novel resistance gene using allele mining tools and their deployment for the development of spot blotch resistant cultivars.