Importance and Distribution of Wheat Stem Rust (Puccinia graminis f.sp.tritici) in Western and Southwestern Ethiopia

Wheat is an important staple food crop in Ethiopia. However, several wheat stem rust disease outbreaks had been caused significant losses of crops in many parts of the country. This study was conducted to quantify the stem rust intensity and distribution of the Puccinia graminis f.sp.tritici population in western and southwestern Ethiopia. The disease parameters were measured from 105 farmer’s fields of 6 districts in four zones. The survey was carried out by purposive multistage sampling methods depending on the importance of the crops during the 2019 cropping season. Stem rust was prevalent and widely distributed in all study areas. Analysis of variance indicates fields, districts, and zones significantly (p<0.01) varied in disease incidence and severity %. ANOVA of disease intensity with altitude, weed management, a wheat variety is grown and growth stage also showed a significant difference (p<0.01). The disease means prevalence was high, ranged from 66.7%-92% in zones and the lowest and the highest being at Jimma and in Assosa zones, respectively. Mean % incidence was in the range of 3.7-47.9, the lowest and the highest being in Dedo and Begi districts in a given order, with the corresponding severities of 4.8-66.5%. The disease was more severe in mid- altitude areas with warmer weather conditions. The current study revealed that wheat stem rust was important in wheat farms of the west and southwest Ethiopia and the need to undertake regular monitoring across the study areas.

Author(s): Mosisa Tolossa, Girma Adugna, Bekele Hundie

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