Tainan, Taiwan
May 2013

Source: Newsletter of AVRDC - The World Vegetable Center

A variety of viruses constrain tropical pumpkin production and farmers need improved varieties to stay a step ahead of these infectious agents.

(l to r): Narinder Dhillon, AVRDC Cucurbit Breeder, guided Prashant Kumar from Rasi Seeds to the pumpkin research field at AVRDC East and Southeast Asia’s Research and Development Station on 2 April to get a closer look at resistant pumpkin lines.

The fields of AVRDC East and Southeast Asia’s Research and Development Station, located at Kasetsart University’s Kamphaeng Saen campus in Thailand, are a hot spot for cucurbit viruses, and thus a great place to screen pumpkin for resistance in the field. March and April are ideal months to do field screening for virus resistance in this part of Thailand; a number of different potyviruses and begomoviruses appear in the pumpkin fields during this period each year. AVRDC's Cucurbit team performs routine screening of pumpkin breeding lines and accessions from the AVRDC  genebank to find selections with resistance to infection from a combination of viruses.

Over the years, the Cucurbit team has identified several lines possessing field resistance to mixed virus infection. Recently, breeders and pathologists from seed companies East-West Seed (4 April), Chia Tai Seeds (30 March), Clover Seed (29 March), Rasi Seeds (2 April), and Real Seeds (7 April) visited the trials. 

The researchers were impressed with the Center's pumpkin virus resistance work and expressed a desire to collaborate. Cucurbit Breeder Narinder Dhillon also explained the virus resistance potential of the lines to members of the AVRDC Board of Directors who toured the fields during Science Day (23 April).

Website: https://avrdc.org/

Published: May 18, 2013