A set of 32 landraces (traditional local cultivars) of poppy Papaver somniferum originating in the Indian states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Tamilnadu, and four Indian commercial varieties were screened over four cropping seasons for their reaction to downy mildew disease caused by Peronospora arborescens and damping‐off disease caused by Pythium dissotocum under both field and artificial inoculation conditions. The landrace 1018 was found to be resistant to damping‐off disease and the landraces 1014 and N3 were resistant to downy mildew disease. A yield trial conducted over two seasons showed that the damping‐off disease‐resistant landrace 1018 was superior to all the commercial varieties in seed, morphine and/or codeine yield. The experiments provided further evidence that there is considerable genetic variability between the landraces.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.