1. Supervisor: MS. FELISTERS NZUVE
Evaluation of Wheat Varieties for Disease Resistance and other Agronomic Traits By
Kibinge James Karioki
REG No: A22/0060/2009
Supervisor: MS. FELISTERS NZUVE
12/04/2013 .

2. Outline of Presentation
Introduction
Statement of research problem
Research hypothesis
Objectives
Methodology
Work plan

3. Introduction
Wheat (Triticum aestivum) is the second most important cereal crop after maize in Kenya
However, Kenya is a net importer of wheat due to low annual production of only tonnes annually
Variable climatic conditions and diseases constrain wheat production
Wheat improvement programs include breeding for resistance and early maturity

4. Introduction
The common diseases include brown rust (Puccinia recondita) and black rust or stem rust (Puccinia graminis)
These diseases cause yield losses ranging from 70 to 100% especially among the resource constraint small-scale farmers

5. Statement of research Problem
There is need for farmers to use improved varieties which have high disease resistance and good agronomic traits
The maturity or the stage of flowering is critical especially in areas with limited rainfall for good seed set
The wheat varieties should also be of the right plant height to avoid lodging which could lower grain yield

6. Main objective
Identifying disease resistant wheat varieties with good agronomic traits
Specific objective
To Identify wheat varieties resistant to diseases
To identify early maturing varieties
To identify varieties with good plant height
Hypothesis
These varieties are resistant to diseases
These varieties have good agronomic traits

7. Site description
The trial experiment will be conducted at the College of Agriculture and Veterinary Services (Upper Kabete) field station
Location: Latitude 10 15` South and longitude ` East; 1940m above sea level
Soils: humic nitisol; Well drained, deep (>180cm), dark red to darkish brown
Climate: Semi-humid with bimodal rain distribution; Long rains in mid March-May and short rain in mid October-December. The mean annual rainfall is 1006mm; Average temperature of 210C

8. Varieties They include certified seeds of 7 wheat varieties Kingbird
Kwale
Heroe
Duma
K. Hawk
Robin
Njoro BW II

9. . Experiment layout
The experiments will be conducted in a randomised complete block design (RCBD) and two replications
Two rows each of 1 metre will form a plot and spaced at 30cm
Planting will be done using DAP 20:20:0 on fine tilth prepared plots
Supplemental irrigation water will be done
Weed control will be done manually through uprooting

10. Data collection Disease severity data will be recorded as follows:
Percent of rust infection on the leaves based on modified Cobb’s scale (0-100%)
Roelfs scale (1992) based on host responses to infection; using "R" =resistance, MR =moderate resistance, MS = moderate susceptibility and S =full susceptibility
Other agronomic data: Plant height and days to 50% flowering

11. Data Analysis
The Analysis of variance (ANOVA) will be done to determine the significance of the differences among the wheat varieties (genotypes) for the disease and other agronomic traits
The least significant differences (P=0.05) will be used to compare the means

12. Work plan ACTIVITY PERIOD Dec 2012 JAN 2013 FEB 2013 MARCH 2013
APRIL 2013
Proposal writing
Land preparation and planting
Irrigation and weed control
Data collection and analysis
Proposal presentation
Report writing
Final Report presentation

13. Thank you!!!