Evaluation of promising lines of pigeonpea for resistance to wilt caused by Fusarium udum Butler

The present studies were undertaken at Research Farm, ICAR-Indian Institute of Pulses Research, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh during kharif seasons of 2013–16, to identify the potential donor(s) for wilt. Thirty pigeonpea promising lines were evaluated for resistance against Fusarium wilt in the sick field and the same set of genotypes were subjected to rigorous screening under greenhouse conditions using standard technique. Among 30 lines, 18 genotypes showed resistant reaction, 7 were moderately resistant and 5 were susceptible under sick plot conditions at 180 days after sowing (DAS). When the same set of pigeonpea genotypes were subjected to greenhouse screening in pot conditions by standard technique, 17, 7 and 6 genotypes showed resistant, moderately resistant and susceptible respectively at 60 DAS. The resistance lines identified in this study have immense potential as donor for wilt resistance in further pigeonpea disease resistance breeding programme.