A multilocational evaluation of blast resistance in a diverse panel of finger millet in India

Blast of finger millet, Pyricularia grisea, is an economically important disease causing significant loss of production worldwide. Use of resistant cultivar is the most economical way for management of the disease. Identification of stable sources of resistance is of utmost importance to develop varieties against the highly variable pathogen. In this study one hundred-fifteen finger millet genotypes including 108 germplasm of African and Asian origin and a few improved cultivars were evaluated for finger and neck blast resistance across three locations representing major finger millet areas in India during 2016, 2017 and 2018. Evaluation was conducted under natural field conditions, supplemented with artificial inoculation of earhead with blast pathogen at pre-anthesis stage. Disease severity was assessed using a 1-9 disease rating scale. Twenty-nine of the 115 genotypes showed resistance either for finger or neck blast, while six showed combined resistance to both. Stability analysis of those 29 genotypes revealed that five (IE Nos., 2883, 2871, 6240, 2710 and GE3767) were stable for both finger and neck blast resistance. They also possess desirable agronomic characters like medium plant height (100-110 cm), medium maturity (106-115 days) and semi-compact (top of finger incurved) earhead shape. This paper reports stable sources of finger and neck blast resistance in finger millet, which will serve as important donor in a finger millet resistance breeding programme.

Automated summary

This study evaluated 115 finger millet genotypes for blast resistance and identified 29 genotypes with resistance, among which 5 genotypes (IE Nos., 2883, 2871, 6240, 2710, and GE3767) showed stable resistance to both finger and neck blast. These genotypes also possessed desirable agronomic traits, making them important donors in finger millet resistance breeding programs.