Thirty diverse maize genotypes were evaluated by infesting
them artificially by stem borer (Chilo partellus) under field
conditions during kharif, 2014. The stem borer infestation
was measured in terms of leaf injury rating (LIR), dead
hearts and stem tunneling. The damage by C. partellus
indicated significant differences among the genotypes in
respect of all the three traits measured. The leaf injury rating
ranged from 2.16 in PFSR51016/1 to 8.74 in HKI 1352. The
genotype WNZPBTL2 recorded minimum (14.03%) dead
hearts while the genotypes HKI 1378 recorded maximum
(55.94%) dead hearts. The larval feeding inside the stem
resulted in minimum stem tunneling in WNZPBTL2 and
maximum in Basi local i.e., 13.75 and 44.75% respectively.
The correlations among damage parameters revealed
significant positive association of leaf injury with dead
hearts and stem tunneling. Thus these traits proved to be
visual indicators of stem borer resistance. A selection index
was constructed Division of Entomology, Indian
Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012 India
based on LIR and percent stem tunneling for selecting the
best genotypes in the test population. The selection index
led to the identification of WNZPBTL2 and PFSR 51016/1 as
the resistance sources for C. partellus.
Keywords: Chilo partellus, maize germplasm screening, leaf injury, tunnel length, susceptibility index
Year: 2018
Volume: 78
Issue: 4
Article DOI: 10.31742/IJGPB.78.4.7
Print ISSN: 0019-5200
Online ISSN: 0975-6906
Anil Cholla, Subhash Chander, Jaswinder Kaur, S. B. Suby and Pradyumn Kumar info_circle