~ 3601 ~ International Journal of Chemical Studies 2019; 7(2): 3601-3604 P-ISSN: 2349–8528 E-ISSN: 2321–4902 IJCS 2019; 7(2): 3601-3604 © 2019 IJCS Received: 07-01-2019 Accepted: 09-02-2019 TSSK Patro Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Agricultural Research Station, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, India N Anuradha Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Agricultural Research Station, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, India Correspondence TSSK Patro Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Agricultural Research Station, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, India Identification of resistant sources of finger millet lines against neck and finger blast disease TSSK Patro and N Anuradha Abstract An experiment was undertaken to evaluate the 3000 finger millet lines including one check variety viz., VR 708 (susceptible) against neck and finger blast disease at Agricultural Research Station, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh during kharif, 2013 to 2018. Among all the 3000 lines 112 lines have shown resistant reaction under high disease pressure field conditions during kharif 2013.However, only 50 varieties have shown consistent resistant reaction during all the years (2014-18) tested. The percent disease intensity of neck and finger blast ranged from 0.00 to 96.4% and 0.00 to 95.3% respectively, where it was 95.5 and 96.4 PDI of neck and finger blast in check VR 708, a highly susceptible variety. Keywords: Finger millet, screening, resistant, susceptible, neck blast, finger blast Introduction Finger millet (Eleusine coracana), is an important small millet grown extensively in diverse regions of India and Africa. Among small millets, finger millet ranks first in area and production. Among cereals and millets its position in production is sixth after wheat, rice, maize, sorghum and bajra. Finger millet consumption has wide range of advantages because of its high nutritive values. Of the several fungal diseases that affect finger millet crop, blast disease caused by Pyricularia grisea is the most important disease. The disease was reported for the first time in India, from Tanjore delta of Tamil Nadu by McRae (1920) [6] . Since then, the disease is known to occur almost every year during rainy season in all major ragi growing areas and is perceived as is one of the major disease causing recurring yield losses in all the states of India. The extent of damage depends on the severity and time of onset of disease. The average loss due to finger millet blast has been reported to be around 28% and has been reported as high as 80-90% in endemic areas. Finger millet blast disease is by far the most devastating, causing over 50% yield loss. According to McRae (1922) [6] the grain loss due to blast could be over 56 per cent, while, Venkatarayan (1947) [16] reported more than 80 per cent yield loss in Mysore. Sunil and Anilkumar (2004a) [15] reported 3-35% loss in 1000-grain mass in head blast- affected ear heads in Bangalore. The plant is susceptible to the disease during all stages of its growth, from seedling to grain formation stage. Young seedlings are affected both in the nursery and in the field. The lesions are generally of spindle shaped, however lesions of different sizes may also be observed. In the beginning the spots have yellowish margin and grayish centre. Later, the centres become whitish grey and disintegrate. Under humid conditions, olive-grey fungal overgrowth can be seen at the centre of the lesions. The fungal growth comprises of conidiophores and conidia. In the beginning the lesions are isolated and afterwards they may soon coalesce. The distal portion of the leaves beyond the lesions may hang and drop off. Use of high yielding resistant/tolerant cultivars is the most viable, environmentally safe and economical sound which paves less expensive technique for the management of disease. Thus, it is most remunerative to farmers and thus the identification of the resistance source is a basic need in breeding for disease resistance. Therefore, the present investigation was undertaken to find out resistant sources against finger blast disease. Materials and Methods The trails were conducted against finger millet blast caused by Pyricularia grisea during kharif, 2013-18 at Agricultural Research Station, Vizianagaram. The experiment was laid on a plot in Randomized Block Design, with 3000 lines, replicated three times which was sown in