Screening of Recombinant Inbred Line (RIL) Population of Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) 39Against Stem Rot Disease Incidence (Sclerotium rolfsii)

Abstract

Stem rot of groundnut, caused by the necrotrophic pathogen Sclerotium rolfsiiis a devastating soil borne disease. Its incidence has been increasing in the hot and humid groundnut growing regions since the past decade. Chemical and cultural practices have been under practice to manage this disease. However, these measures cannotfully control the pod losses incurred by the crop, owing to the non-uniform distribution of the pathogen. Host resistance to the disease appears to be the most feasible
solution to control the disease. In the present study, hundred genotypes of a groundnut RIL population (ICGV 91114 X ICGV 86590) along with resistant and susceptible checks have been screened during Kharif,2021 under artificially inoculated controlled conditions in poly-house. Disease was assessed using percent mortality which was recorded at 15, 30, 45 and 60 days after inoculation (DAI). Analysis of variance revealed significant differences among the genotypes for 45 and 60 DAI indicating that these
could be the best scoring times. It was observed that most of the genotypes were susceptible to the disease, while a very few were resistant and moderately resistant. The genotypes ICGN 184776, ICGN 184806, ICGN 184849, ICGN 184784, ICGN 184783, ICGN 184836, ICGN 184809, ICGN 184811, ICGN 184812, ICGN 184846, ICGN 184768 and ICGN 184823 were
found to have considerable resistance against the disease. They have the potential to be considered for selections to be used as parents in crossing programs for the transfer of resistance to cultivated breeding lines.