Evaluation of Incidence, Some Wheat Lines and Fungicides for their Performance against Leaf Rust of Wheat in Sindh Province of Pakistan

Rusts cause considerable qualitative and quantitative losses to the wheat crop. However, their severity and losses can be minimized through the deployment of resistant cultivars. Current investigations were made to conduct surveys for leaf rust in Sindh province to scrutinize wheat germplasm against the disease and to check the efficacy of potential fungicides in controlling leaf rust of wheat. Experiments were conducted under artificial conditions at Nuclear Institute for Agriculture, Tandojam. Cobb's scale was used for disease ratings. Among screened wheat lines, one was rated as resistant, two were found moderately resistant, six showed moderately resistant and moderately susceptible type reactions, and one line exhibited moderately susceptible reaction. Moreover, the correlation between severity ratings (area under disease progress curve (AUDPC) and yield traits unveiled that there was a negative correlation between AUDPC and spike length, awn length, plants/sq.ft., and grain yield while a positive correlation for remaining traits. Among fungicides, Tilt and Bloom were found to be the most effective in controlling leaf rust. It is, therefore, recommended that the resistant genotypes should be used in future breeding programs to evolve resistant materials against leaf rusts of wheat and the most effective fungicides be used for the management of the disease to minimize yield losses.