Screening of Finger Millet (<em>Eleusine coracana</em>) Germplasm for the Blast Disease-Resistance in Sri Lanka

Finger millet is the third important cereal crop in Sri Lanka, mostly cultivated rainfed uplands dry and intermediate zones. Blast disease (leaf, finger, neck blast) caused by Magnaporthe grisea economically devastating to rice finger worldwide. Host resistance most viable option for managing as it mainly grown low-input systems. One hundred thirty-nine accessions collected from Plant Genetic Resources Center Lanka were field screened leaf blast three seasons under artificial inoculation at Field Crops Research Development Institute Mahailluppallama, Lanka. The results revealed that almost all tested susceptible early seedling stage. However, 5–6 weeks after sowing, severity of decreased drastically, germplasm resistant or moderately resistant. severity, scored natural infection, was low both high low-density planting. Seven 87 consistently showed immune reactions blast, respectively. A negative correlation observed between days flowering disease. accessions, namely, Ac12968 Ac2384 Jaffna, TVFM, 13-1, TVFM-04, TVFM-02 Killinochchi, a higher score leaf, compared other accessions. significant positive (P<0.05) found however, these two diseases did not show (P>0.05) with blast.