Abstract
Wheat is one of the important major crops of Hararghe Highlands. It is third in land coverage and total production after sorghum and maize. However, the wheat stem rust disease is threatening production of wheat in this region. So, this research was conducted with the following objective: to determine the population of Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici in Hararghe Highlands. A total of 200 fields were surveyed and stem rust samples were collected and transported to Kulumsa Agricultural Research Center for race analysis. Inoculation of differentials carrying resistance genes Sr24 and Sr-Tmp indicated typical low infection types on all isolates. Isolates EH5, EH8, and EH3 from East Hararghe and WH2, WH1, and WH3 from West Hararghe showed high virulence of infection in all differential lines. Ten (10) races were identified by using Puccinia graminis tritici code system: TTGSK, PTJQK, TTSSK, TTKSK, TRSSK, and TTJQK from East Hararghe and TTTSK and TTSQK from West Hararghe zones. Race TTSSK was most frequent (25%) followed by TTKSK (25%) in East Hararghe. Race TTSSK showed 50% frequency of occurrence in West Hararghe zones. The low frequency of occurrences indicated high variability of the races in the survey areas. Therefore, monitoring of populations of pathogens is important for the national and regional research centers. Detection of pathogen virulence evolution and of currently effective resistance genes is necessary and must be applied within a system of resistance gene management.
Highlights
Wheat is grown in different parts of Ethiopia and it is one of the most cultivated cereal crops in the country [1, 2]
Race TTSSK was predominant with frequency of 50% while the second race occurred with a frequency of 17%
Race TTSSK was varying from TTKSK with additional virulence on Sr36 and Sr13+17 but both races are similar on the rest of Sr genes
Summary
Wheat is grown in different parts of Ethiopia and it is one of the most cultivated cereal crops in the country [1, 2]. It is third in the area coverage and total production after tef and maize and in productivity after maize and sorghum [3]. The crop growth stage overlaps in most cases This creates favorable condition for the carryover of stem rust urediospores from one season to another and leads to the development of epidemics in wheat growing areas [5]. Hararghe Highlands are suitable areas for wheat production in the country where it is produced on a total of 50,297 ha. Varieties grown in East and West Hararghe zones include Kubsa (HAR1685), Wabe (HAR710), Abola (HAR1522), ET13A2, Pavon, and local cultivars [7]
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