Identification of Indian landraces of opium poppy Papaver somniferum resistant to damping-off and downy mildew fungal diseases

A set of 32 landraces (traditional local cultivars) of poppy Papaver somnif erum ir originating in the Indian states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Utta r Pradesh and Tamilnadu, and four Indian commercial varieties were screened over four cropping seasons for their reaction to downy mildew disease caus ed by Peronospora arborescens and damping-off disease caused by Pythium dis sotocum under both field and artificial inoculation conditions. The landrac e 1018 was found to be resistant to damping-off disease and the landraces 1 014 and N3 were resistant to downy mildew disease. A yield trial conducted over two seasons showed that the damping-off disease-resistant landrace 101 8 was superior to all the commercial varieties in seed, morphine and/or cod eine yield. The experiments provided further evidence that there is conside rable genetic variability between the landraces.