Screeing carnation and gladiolus cultivars for vascular wilt resistance.

Carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus Linn.)and gladiolus(Gladiolus hortulanus L.H. Bailey)are important commercial cut flower crops,which suffer substantial losses during cultivation and storage by several diseases. Vascular wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. dianthi (FOD)(Prill. & Delacr.) Snyd.& Hans and Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. gladioli(FOG) (Massey) Synd.& Hans in carnation and gladiolus, respectively, inflict heavy crop damage, leading to deterioration in quality and quantity of the marketable blooms and planting material.Disease incidence ranging from 7 to 64% has been reported in Himachal Pradesh due to Fusarium in gladiolus (4,5). Though effective chemical control of these diseases, these are not economical to the farmers. Hence, a better way of managing these diseases is through host resistance. Screening cultivars is important to select those suitable for pathogen resistance and to indentify the presence of resistance-related genes