Disease Resistance of Wheat Varieties: Can Private Varieties Withstand the Pressure?

Table 2

Results from substate disease resistance comparison of group means between public and private wheat varieties in the North East Kansas (2004–2008).

Type of disease	Ownership	Number of varieties	Mean	Statistical significance of difference in group means (at 5%)
BYD	Public	27	6.1
	Private	11	6.9	No
WSM	Public	30	6.4
	Private	15	5.9	No
SBM	Public	29	1.6
	Private	14	1.6	No
Leaf rust	Public	30	7.3
	Private	15	6.1	Yes
Stripe rust	Public	30	4.3
	Private	14	4.1	No
PM	Public	30	5.3
	Private	14	6.3	No

(Source: Kansas Performance Tests with Winter Wheat varieties, 2004–2008. Reports of Progress 930, 947, 967, 982, and 999. Kansas State University, Manhattan). Note that disease resistance rankings range from 1–9, with 9 as the lowest resistance.