Response of spring barley cultivars to Ramularia leaf spot in conditions of the Czech Republic

The fungus Ramularia collo-cygni is increasingly important as the causal agent of Ramularia leaf spot (RLS). The work aimed to identify gene resources suitable for developing new breeding lines of spring barley with improved resistance. We tested 144 spring barley cultivars at 3 locations in the Czech Republic over 3 years (2009–2011). Only minor and statistically insignificant differences were observed between the individual cultivars in reaction to RLS. No cultivars were observed to have resistance to Ramularia collo-cygni, but significant influence of location and year on the intensity of RLS infection in barley was observed