Abstract

In Ethiopia, stem and yellow rust diseases are characterized by recurrent epidemics and cause significant damage to the wheat crop annually. Stem rust is the most devastating fungal disease of wheat which mainly occurs in the low and mid-altitude wheatproducing areas of the country. On the other hand, yellow or strip rust is more challenging for wheat growers in the highland areas. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the amount of yield reduction due to wheat rust diseases on bread wheat genotypes. Eighteen genotypes were advanced to Multi Environment Trial (MET) from the Elite Spring Wheat Yield Trial (ESWYT) in 2020. Row-column and alpha lattice designs were used for MET and ESWYT with three and two replications, respectively. MET was conducted under diseases control using fungicides, whereas, the ESWYT was conducted without applying any disease control option. The yield of the eighteen genotypes common in ESWYT and MET was recorded, and then the yield reduction was computed. The means grain yield of these genotypes were 4.45 t/ha and 9.38t/ha in the ESWYT and MET, respectively. Grain yield was decreased by 4.93t/ha in ESWYT as compared to MET which is about a 53% yield reduction. Although weather variation had some contributions to the average 53.09 % yield reduction of the eighteen genotypes, the loss in yield was mainly due to the stem rust disease. Thus, it is crucial to manage this rust to increase production and productivity of wheat in the country. Among wheat rust management options, the safest and feasible means is breeding for durable rust resistance. Therefore, wheat research program should work to address the gap by developing high yielding, good quality and diseases resistant variety for wheat producing farmers.