Fungal diseases such as, stem rust (Puccinia graminis f.sp tritici) and yellow rust (P. striiformis f.sp tritici) cause serious challenges to wheat production in Ethiopia. In the past decades, many wheat varieties became out of production due to the frequent occurrence of new virulent races. Most of the major rust resistance genes deployed in commercial wheat cultivars succumb to emerging races of the pathogens. The objective of this study was to identify stem and yellow rust resistance in the Ethiopian durum wheat landraces, cultivars and CIMMYT advanced durum wheat lines. During 2020- 2021 main cropping season, a total of 858 (312 land races, 38 cultivars and 508 CIMMYT durum wheat lines) accessions were evaluated at Debre Zeit and Meraro against stem rust and yellow rust, respectively. In total, 81 (26.6%) and 118(33.8%) exhibited resistance to moderately resistance reaction to yellow rust and stem rust, respectively. CIMMYT advanced lines showed 70(13.8%) and 94(18.5%) resistance to moderately resistance to yellow rust and stem rust, respectively. The Ethiopian landraces exhibited 7(2.3%) and 21(6.8%) resistance to moderately resistance against yellow and stem rust prevailing races. On the other hand, durum wheat cultivars showed 4(10.5%) and 3(7.9%) resistance to moderately resistance to yellow and stem rust, respectively. From the total tested materials 858(14 lines) exhibited combined resistance to the prevailing races of stem and yellow rust diseases. Most of these sources 8 lines were from CIMMYT advanced lines followed by landrace showing (4 lines) for both diseases. In general, CIMMYT durum wheat lines showed better resistance to moderately resistance as compared to the Ethiopian landraces and commercial cultivars for both diseases. The newly identified sources of resistance will be exploited in the durum breeding program whereas; the CIMMYT advanced lines with good agronomic traits will be advanced to yield trials.
