Wheat culitvar mixtures (resistant and suceptible) can be used as a low cost method for suppressing many foliar diseases including wheat stripe rust. Series of field experiments conducted in Nepal suggested that there is positive correlation between the disease suppression and increased proportion of resistant cultivar in the mixture (My MS research project 😄). Mechanism of disease suppression involves dilution effect, barrier effect, induced resistance and microclimate modification. Additionally, this approach can be integrated with chemical (strobilurin and triazoles) applications for better management of the wheat stripe rust epidemics. More information on this can be found in one of our publication and several other literatures as well. Please follow this publication if you are interested in our research regarding the effect of wheat cultivar mixtures on wheat stripe rust severity.
Publication:
Chaulagain, B., Khatri Chhetri, G. B., Shrestha, S. M., Sharma, S., Sharma-Poudyal, D., and Lamichhane, J. R. 2017. Effect of two-component cultivar mixtures on development of wheat yellow rust disease in the field and greenhouse in the Nepal Himalayas. Journal of General Plant Pathology, 83:131-139. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10327-017-0705-z
