Alternaria Disease Screening in Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.)

A collection of 150 safflower germplasm accessions was evaluated to study Alternaria disease reaction under both natural and laboratory conditions. Natural disease screening was carried out during rabi 2011–12 at Agricultural Research Station, Annigeri, UAS, Dharwad. Based onintensity ofdisease scoring GMU 3621, GMU 3636 and GMU 3748 were shown susceptible reaction with the disease intensity of 2050 per cent and remaining all germplasms along with checks were classified under highly susceptible group with more than 50 per cent disease intensity. Leaf detached laboratory assay was done to compare seed yield with disease reaction, and these results revealed that no immune reaction for the Alternaria disease among the accessions.