Screening for leafhopper (Empoasca flavescens) resistance in germplasm accessions of castor (Ricinus communis L.)
INTRODUCTION Castor (Ricinus communis L.) is an important non edible oilseed crop of dry land area with huge industrial importance (Ramanjaneyulu AV et al., 2017).
Abstract
A field experiment was conducted at RARS, Palem during kharif, 2019 to screen the castor germplasm accessions (100 no.) against leafhopper along with susceptible (DPC-9) and resistant checks (M-574). Out of which, 20 entries did not exhibit hopper burn (hopper burn grade 0 on 0-4 scale) and found highly resistant to leafhopper. Leafhopper population among the accessions ranged from 8.8 to 27.2 leafhoppers/3 leaves/plant, whereas the susceptible check, DPC-9 recorded 67.8 leafhoppers/3 leaves/plant with hopper burn grade of 4 on 0-4 scale. Fourteen entries recorded low leafhopper population (17.6 to 38.8 leafhoppers/3 leaves/plant) with hopper burn grade 1 (upto 10% hopper burn). Leafhopper population was highest in RG-111 (70.6 leafhoppers/3 leaves/plant) with hopper burn grade of 4 (76 to 100% hopper burn). The germplasm accessions that were found resistant to leaf-hopper can be utilized in breeding programmes to develop resistant cultivars.