SCREENING OF SESAME GERMPLASM FOR RESISTANCE AGAINST THE BACTERIAL BLIGHT CAUSED BY Xanthomonas campestris pv. sesami

Screening of sesame germplasm, 20 from Faisalabad and 119 from NARC, Islamabad was done for resistance against the sesame bacterial blight (Xanthomonas campestris pv. sesami) which is posing great threat to sesame in Pakistan. Among the 20 varieties screened in Faisalabad, no line was found immune, highly resistant or resistant. Among all, 4 lines were found moderately resistant, 14 were moderately susceptible and 2 observed to be highly susceptible. Results of screening of germplasm at NARC revealed that out of 119 lines, none was immune to the bacterial blight, whereas 3 lines i.e. SG-34, SG-22, SG-55 were highly resistant, 2 lines, i.e. SG-72, SG-33 were marked as resistant, 10 lines were found to be moderately resistant, 49 lines were categorized as moderately susceptible, 40 were susceptible and the highly susceptible group comprised of 15 lines.