Progress report - Protecting Ethiopian lentil crops

Abstract

Six Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lentis (Fol) isolates were collected between 2018 and 2021 from the ICARDA breeding station in Morocco and multiplied using autoclaved sorghum seeds. Sterilized peat moss was infested with the inoculum of each isolate five days before sowing (5 g of inoculum per 100 g of sterilized peat moss, treated with 1% solution, per cone). Nineteen elite lentil genotypes from the lentil breeding program, including released varieties in Morocco, were tested under glasshouse conditions. Prior to sowing, lentil seeds were surface sterilized using a sodium hypochlorite solution for 2 minutes, then dried at room temperature and planted. The genotypes were evaluated in three replications (five seedlings per cone), and plant mortality was recorded 40 days after planting.