Sources of pyrenophorosis resistance found in Mediterranean durum wheat collection in Tunisia

This is a trait that has distinguished landraces that have shown good results in immunity to yellow spot, which theoretically will reduce the use of pesticides.An international study was carried out by a team of scientists from Tunisia and Mexico, as yellow spot (or pyrenophorosis) of wheat increasingly affects crops in Tunisia, where durum plays an important role in agricultural production. Most of the durum wheat, or as it is called "durum", is grown in the Mediterranean region (75% of the world's durum wheat production) due to its adaptation to the environment for the production of various products, mainly pasta. In Tunisia, durum wheat covers an area of more than half a million hectares, which is 87% of the wheat land in the country. Climate change, abiotic and biotic stresses and the introduction of high-yielding varieties have resulted in a loss of genetic diversity and crop vulnerability to newly emerging pathogen strains. The adoption and widespread practice of reduced or ...