Inheritance of downy mildew resistance in cauliflower (Group I)

Abstract

Cauliflower is an important vegetable grown for its nutritive value as well as for its value added foods in the processing sector. Among the various diseases infecting cauliflower, downy mildew caused by Peronospora parasitica (Pers. Fr.) is a serious disease which not only affects young seedlings, transplanted crop but also produces damaging abnormalities in the inflorescences of seed crops. Though, there is considerable work done in mid and late cauliflowers, work has been scanty in the direction of developing early cauliflower varieties resistant to downy mildew. Resistant sources against downy mildew in early group of cauliflower have been identified at the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bangalore but genetics of inheritance of downy mildew resistance has not been worked out. However, information on this line will be useful in planning a systematic breeding procedure to incorporate the downy mildew resistance into the susceptible cultivars.