INHERITANCE OF RESISTANCE OF FUSARIUM-WILT (FUSARIUM-OXYSPORUM F-SP CICERI) IN GRAM (CICER-ARIETINUM)

An experiment was conducted during winter seasons of 1987-90 to study the inheritance of resistance to wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum Sch lecht. f sp ciceri (Padw.) Matuo & Sato, using 3 varieties of gram (Ci cer arietinum L.). 'JG 74' and 'PG 114' were found resistant on screen ing in pot as well as field. These were crossed with highly susceptibl e variety 'JG 62'. Cross 'JG 74' x 'JG 62' showed monogenic recessive inheritance of resistance. However, 'PG 114' x 'JG 62' showed resistan ce to wilt under influence of 2 recessive genes. Oligogenic nature of inheritance of resistance to wilt emphasizes the need of bulk populati on breeding and backcross breeding for development of resistant variet ies.