Abstract

To assess the prevalence and distribution of wheat stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis), a survey of the randomly selected wheat fields located in sub-tropical to temperate agro-ecologies of Jammu province of Jammu and Kashmir was conducted consecutively for three years during rabi seasons of 2009-2010, 2010-2011 and 2011-2012. The results revealed that, by and large, all the wheat growing areas under study were found infested by this disease with maximum and minimum Area Under Rust Progress Curve (AURPC) values of 2422.21 and 351.70 reported from Jammu sub-tropics and inter-mediate Doda districts, respectively. The cropping season of rabi 2010-2011 recorded highest disease prevalence, probably due to conducive environmental conditions coupled with virulent pathotypes out-break and monoculture of wheat varieties. Among twenty one germplasms of wheat screened for source of disease resistance against stripe rust under epiphytotic conditions, Agra local and PBW-343 were found susceptible, RSP-561 showed moderate resistance, whereas, all the other cultivars were moderately susceptible to Puccinia striiformis.

Key words: Puccinia striiformis, stripe rust, wheat, distribution, resistance.