Abstract
Stem rust or black rust caused by <i>Puccinia graminis</i> f.sp. <i>tritici</i> is one of the major biotic constraints of wheat production in Ethiopia. The disease may cause substantial quantitative and qualitative yield losses but much of the work in Ethiopia on this pathosystem focuses on quantitative yield loss and qualitative losses are often overlooked. As the result, the current research was designed with the objective of elucidating the effect of wheat stem rust on yield, physical and processing quality of durum wheat. For this purpose, a factorial field experiment involving three durum wheat varieties (Ude, Denbi and Hitosa) were selected and Tilt application was conducted at Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Centre for two cropping seasons (2016-2017). The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design with three replications and untreated checks were included for comparison purpose. Results revealed significant variations in disease parameters and crop performance of treated plots, wheat varieties and their interactions. Stem rust severity was significantly reduced by the application of Tilt across all wheat varieties, and the highest decrease in disease level (8.9 and 15.2%) was achieved by Tilt application in 2017 and 2016 cropping seasons, respectively. Correlation analysis revealed negative relationship between stem rust and durum wheat grain yield and quality parameters, which was highly significant in most cases. However, there was highly significantly positive correlation (r=0.31** and r = 0.39***) between stem rust and grain protein content during the year of 2016 and 2017 cropping seasons, respectively. The results confirmed the economic importance of stem rust to food industry for its effect on grain yield, physical and processing quality of durum wheat in Ethiopia.
Highlights
Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum) is among the most important cereal crops in Ethiopia
Terminal stem rust severity on treated plots during the same year varied between 10.7 and 20% on susceptible varieties, 30% on moderately susceptible variety suggesting a significant reduction in stem rust disease level as the result of fungicide sprays
Stem rust disease resulted in significant reduction in hectolitre weight (HLW), thousand kernel weight (TKW), kernel size and yield during both cropping years when left untreated
Summary
Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum) is among the most important cereal crops in Ethiopia. It is widely cultivated in some parts of Ethiopia, including the Bale highlands. Its production and quality is affected by abiotic and biotic factors. Tritici) is becoming a leading bottleneck of durum wheat production in the country, affecting both quantitative and qualitative yield of the crop. Durum wheat is considered as potential crop by the government for food industry as import substitution and one means of income diversification for the farmers. With the increasing number of processing industries, the demand for durum wheat grains for pasta processing is growing in the country. In 2012 Ethiopia imported 472,147t of durum wheat, at a cost of 174.6 million dollars [6]. The same author reported that 27 cooperatives and five unions in the districts of Agarfa, Goro, Ginir, Gololcha, Sinana and Dello Mena are the main beneficiaries and simultaneously actors of the economic growth and development endeavor in producing durum wheat for different pasta and macaroni factories
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