Evaluation of Wheat Varieties for Disease Resistance and other

Agronomic Traits

ByKibinge James Karioki

REG No: A22/0060/2009

Supervisor: MS. FELISTERS NZUVE

12/04/2013

Outline of Presentation

1. Introduction

2. Statement of research problem

Research hypothesis

Objectives

3. Methodology

4. Work plan

IntroductionWheat (Triticum aestivum) is the second most important

cereal crop after maize in Kenya

However, Kenya is a net importer of wheat due to low annual production of only 64400 tonnes annually

Variable climatic conditions and diseases constrain wheat production

Wheat improvement programs include breeding for resistance and early maturity

•The common diseases include brown rust (Puccinia recondita) and black rust or stem rust (Puccinia graminis)

•These diseases cause yield losses ranging from 70 to 100% especially among the resource constraint small-scale farmers

Introduction

Statement of research Problem There is need for farmers to use improved varieties

which have high disease resistance and good agronomic traits

The maturity or the stage of flowering is critical especially in areas with limited rainfall for good seed set

The wheat varieties should also be of the right plant height to avoid lodging which could lower grain yield

Main objective•Identifying disease resistant wheat varieties with good agronomic traits

Specific objective•To Identify wheat varieties resistant to diseases•To identify early maturing varieties•To identify varieties with good plant height Hypothesis•These varieties are resistant to diseases•These varieties have good agronomic traits

Site description

The trial experiment will be conducted at the College of Agriculture and Veterinary Services (Upper Kabete) field station

Location: Latitude 10 15` South and longitude 360 44` East; 1940m above sea level

Soils: humic nitisol; Well drained, deep (>180cm), dark red to darkish brown

Climate: Semi-humid with bimodal rain distribution; Long rains in mid March-May and short rain in mid October-December. The mean annual rainfall is 1006mm; Average temperature of 210C

VarietiesThey include certified seeds of 7 wheat varieties

1. Kingbird

2. Kwale

3. Heroe

4. Duma

5. K. Hawk

6. Robin

7. Njoro BW II

. Experiment layout

The experiments will be conducted in a randomised complete block design (RCBD) and two replications

Two rows each of 1 metre will form a plot and spaced at 30cm

Planting will be done using DAP 20:20:0 on fine tilth prepared plots

Supplemental irrigation water will be done

Weed control will be done manually through uprooting

Data collectionDisease severity data will be recorded as follows:

Percent of rust infection on the leaves based on modified Cobb’s scale (0-100%)

Roelfs scale (1992) based on host responses to infection; using "R" =resistance, MR =moderate resistance, MS = moderate susceptibility and S =full susceptibility

Other agronomic data: Plant height and days to 50% flowering

Data AnalysisThe Analysis of variance (ANOVA) will be done to

determine the significance of the differences among the wheat varieties (genotypes) for the disease and other agronomic traits

The least significant differences (P=0.05) will be used to compare the means

ACTIVITY

PERIOD

Dec 2012 JAN 2013 FEB 2013 MARCH 2013 APRIL 2013

Proposal writing

Land preparation and

planting

Irrigation and weed

control

Data collection and

analysis

Proposal presentation

Report writing

Final Report

presentation

Work plan