Sources of Resistance to Yellow Rust (Puccinia Striiformis West) in Barley

Diverse barley germ plasm was evaluated under heavy natural or artificial infection of yellow rust races in eight tests at Wellington, Lahaul, Almora and Delhi over 3 years. Twenty six varieties showed high degree of resistance/tolerance to the pathogen under field conditions. Five varieties, namely, Ab. 14, EP 79A, RDISN 416, Gaines and KB 7948, showed F to 10R reaction to yellow rust. Considering the geographically diverse origins of these resistant sources, a possibility of genetic diversity among these and their utility in barley breeding programmes has been suggested.