Meeting the Challenge of Yellow Rust in Cereal Crops - ICARDA

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Wheat yellow rust establishment, distribution and varietal
resistance in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of
Pakistan
Syed Jawad Ahmad Shah, 1 Shaukat Hussain, 2 Tila Mohmmad, 1 Farhatullah, 2
Ihsanullah, 1 M. Ibrahim 1 and Sajid Ali 2 .
1. Nuclear Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Tarnab, Peshawar, Pakistan;
2. NWFP Agricultural University, Peshawar, Pakistan
Wheat growing areas of North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan
were surveyed in March-April of the 2004/05 crop season in order to record
the establishment of yellow rust, its distribution and varietal resistance. Yellow
rust (Puccinia striiformis) was prevalent at all sites visited in three different
wheat production zones of the province. Disease symptoms were observed
during late February to early March. The central irrigated zone, comprising
Peshawar, Nowshera, Charsadda and adjacent areas of NWFP Agricultural
University had emerged as having maximum mean rust severity. Among
different wheat genotypes, 28% were rated as disease free at the time of
scoring. These included future candidate varieties (SD-66 and PR-83) and
commercial cultivars (Tatara, Khyber 87, Kohsar 93 and Chakwal 86).
Phenotypic diversity of infection types on these genotypes was found to be
maximum in the areas adjacent to NWFP Agricultural University. The study
was useful for developing an understanding regarding the current field rust
situation and resistance levels of wheat genotypes grown in different areas, as
an input to effective breeding to combat this disease in Pakistan. This work is
part of the PhD Research work of the principal author, to be presented at the
Third Yellow Rust Conference, in Kyrgyzstan 9–12 June 2006.