Resistance and yield stability of groundnut cultivars on Ralstonia wilt endemic areas in central of Java, Indonesia

Bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum is an important production constraint of groundnut over large areas in some countries of Asia including Indonesia. Seventeen wilt resistant lines including 11 breeding lines developed from ICRISAT germplasm, five improved cultivars, as well as a susceptible check (MLGG 0627) were tested for their pod yield and stability of resistance to bacterial wilt in five bacterial wilt endemic areas. The plant wilt intensity acros locations were high, indicated severe incidence of the disease. Among the improved cultivars only Gajah that showed resistance to the disease and resistance is stable across the five locations, where as the other improved cultivars were susceptible. Eight out of the 11 breeding lines were highly resistant, comparable or even higher than Gajah’s resistant level. The level of resistance to bacterial wilt disease was highly contributes to the ability to deliver higher pod yield in bacterial wilt endemic areas.