Abstract

An experiment was conducted at Chefe Donsa naturally infested field with Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lentis in order to evaluate the effect of lentil genotypes and seedbed types as components of integrated management option. A factorial experiment including lentil variety and seedbed type, each at four levels, was carried out in a split-plot design with three replications. The four lentil genotypes were ILL-590 (susceptible check), Alemaya, Derash and Denbi and four seedbed types were flat bed, open raised bed, tie-raised bed and farmer’s practice. Raised seedbed exhibited relatively lower disease incidence than among the seedbed types. Interaction of the used varieties and seedbed types was significant in wilt reduction. The highest wilt incidence (ca. 67.5%) was recorded on ILL-590, susceptible lentil line, planted on flat bed, whereas, the lowest (ca. 8.8%) Fusarium wilt incidence was noted on cultivar Derash planted in raised bed. A combination of cultivar Derash and raised bed resulted significantly (P<0.05) higher grain yield (3827.0 kg ha-1) than all other treatment combinations. Significantly (P<0.05) lower grain yields (in the order of 68.0 kg ha-1) were obtained from integration of the susceptible genotype (ILL-590) with flatbed than all other treatment integration. The highest (899.4% unit/days) in AUDPC values were observed by flat seedbed type and ILL-590, while the lowest (114.0% unit/days) in AUDPC values were obtained by raised seedbed type and Derash variety. Wilt incidence and AUDPC values were significant and negatively correlated with yield parameters. It was concluded that using moderately resistant variety (Derash) with raised seedbed significantly reduced Fusarium wilt incidence and exhibited reasonably high yields.

Keywords: Lentil, management, wilt, F. oxysporum f. sp. lentis.