Screening of Indian peanut genotypes for resistance to Cercospora leaf-spot under savanna conditions

The objective was to evaluate the Indian and Venezuelan peanut cultivars (PC) for agronomic performance and resistance to Cercospora leaf-spot (CLS) diseases for selection. The study covered three experiments: In the first one, 15 PC were evaluated (13 from India classified as resistant to CL and two native, Desconocida-36 and Americano Chico (AC)) in a RBD. In the second one, 15 PC (12 from India classified as early maturing) and three native (Rojo, Rosado and AC) in a RBD. In the third experiment, 25 PC were evaluated (22 from India classified as confectionery) and three native (Rojo, Rosado and AC) in a triple lattice design. In all experiments, three replications were used and probability level was 5%. Fungicide aspersions were not carried out. The two species of Cercospora identified were Cercospora arachidicola and Cercosporidium personatum. Peanut cultivars found to be high yielding were Desconocida-36 with 1944.6 kg/ha and cv. 86325 with 2035.3 kg/ha, both with intermediate tolerance. Cultivars 88401 and 88395 were classified as tolerant because of restricting fungicide application in the experiments.