Identification of Garlic Genotypes for Resistant Sources against Purple Blotch Disease

Abstract

Garlic is an herbaceous annual bulbous plant in the family Amaryllidaceae grown for its pungent and edible bulb. Among the various biotic factors hindering production and productivity, purple blotch plays a predominant role in changing the crops morpho-physiological characters, thus deteriorating the metabolic activity in turn affecting the yield considerably. Fungicides have been recommended for the control of the disease, however use of fungicides is expensive and not eco-friendly. The best approach to control the disease is by using resistant genotypes. Hence, 37 genotypes were field screened at AINRPOG (All India Network Research Project on Onion and Garlic), MARS (Main Agricultural Research Station), Dharwad against purple blotch disease under artificial epiphytotic conditions during Kharif in year 2019 to identify the resistant sources. The results revealed that twenty genotypes were found to be resistant (1-10%) and five genotypes were immune (0%) however, ten genotypes were found moderately resistant (11-20%) in reaction. The remaining two genotypes viz., HRG Local and DOGR409 were found moderately susceptible (21-40%) with a maximum grade of 3 on (0-5) scale. None of the genotypes showed susceptible or highly susceptible reactions to purple blotch. Breeders can make use of these identified resistant lines in developing high yield purple blotch disease resistant varieties.