POWDERY MILDEW (ODIUM LINI) AND PASMO (SEPTORIA LINICOLA) COMBINED EFFECT ON YIELD, YIELD COMPONENTS OF LINSEED (LINUM USITATISSIMUM L.)

Abstract

Linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) has been traditional oil crop of Ethiopia and it is the third most important oilseeds in the higher altitudes. It is the leading oil crop in Bale highlands in terms of its area of production and productivity. Regardless of the potential for linseed production; diseases are the major yield limiting factors in Ethiopia. Pasmo (Septoria linicola) and powdery mildew (Odium lini) are among the most important diseases associated with linseed production. This experiment is intended to develop an option for the management of these major diseases. The experiment was conducted for three years in two locations. An improved linseed variety ‘‘Dibene’’ and a local cultivar were planted in RCB design with three replications. At Sinana On-station, ANOVA has depicted that for pasmo disease there was statistically significant (P<0.05) variation among treatments. The highest disease severity of 23.46% and the lowest 12.96% were recorded from local cultivar without fungicide spray and ‘Dibene’ variety sprayed at seven days interval, respectively. Similarly, statistically justifiable variations (P<0.05) were observed for Powdery mildew. The highest and the lowest powdery mildew severities of 46.3% and 22.84 % were recorded from local cultivar without fungicide spray and ‘Dibene’ variety sprayed at seven days interval, respectively. Similarly, ANOVA have depicted that there are significant difference (P<0.05) between treatments for thousand seed weigh (TSW) and grain yields. The highest and lowest TSW of 6.73g and 6.07g were recorded from ‘Dibene’ variety sprayed at twenty one days local cultivar without fungicide spray, respectively. Whereas, the highest and lowest grain yield of 2859.30kg/ha and 2316.8kg/ha was obtained from ‘Dibene’ variety sprayed at fourteen days (14) days and local cultivar without fungicide spray. Similarly, the result follows the same trend at welte’i berisa. ANAVA have shown that there application of a fungicide have made a significant difference (P<0.05) between treatments for TSW and grain yield. The highest and lowest TSW of 5.87gand 5.27g was recorded from ‘Dibene’ variety sprayed at twenty one days interval and local cultivar without fungicide spray, respectively. In case of grain yield, the largest and smallest grain yield of 1733.6kg/ha and 1045.6kg/ha were obtained from ‘Dibene’ variety sprayed at fourteen days days interval and the local cultivar without fungicide spray, respectively. Therefore, One to two times spray of a fungicide Odeon (Chlorothalonil) at a rate of 2.5 kg/ha and at an interval of 14 days is recommended for the management of Powdery mildew and Pasmo diseases on linseed.