Response of robusta coffee populations to Fusarium xylarioides infection under screen house condition in Uganda

Abstract

Seedlings of open pollinated seeds of 119 cultivars of robusta coffee (Coffea canephora) from coffee collections at Kituza and 8 progeny lines from wilt “hot spot” areas were inoculated to identify resistance to coffee wilt disease caused by F. xylariodes for effective control of the disease. The plants were inoculated with a field isolate of Fusarium xylarioides at a concentration of 1.3 x 10⁶ spores per ml using root dip method for 12 hours. 15.4% of the seedlings survived first round of infection. The survivor seedlings were re-inoculated and 53% of them survived the second round of infection. The results showed variation in number of survivors between families and revealed presence ofquantitative resistance to the coffee wilt disease among populations of robusta coffee.