Triticale (×Triticosecale), the first human-made crop species in a hexaploid form (AABBRR), was obtained by crossing tetraploid wheat (Triticum durum or T. turgidum) with cereal rye (Secale cereale or S. montanum) (Ammar et al., 2004). The first commercially available triticale cultivars for farmers became available in the 1960s.Recently, the global cultivated area of triticale has been estimated at approximately 4 million hectares, with the largest areas occurring in Poland, Belarus, Germany, and France. In Poland, triticale is grown on approximately 1.3 million hectares. In general, triticale combines the high grain quality and yield potential of wheat with the resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses of rye (Ammar et al., 2004; Audenaert et al., 2014).Leaf (brown) rust, which is caused by Puccinia triticina, is an important wheat disease in all geographic regions of the world where wheat is cultivated (Bolton et al., 2008). The development of leaf rust is strongly influenced by environmental conditions, among which temperature and moisture play the most significant role (Kaul & Shaner, 1989). In Poland, under favourable disease conditions, a peak of leaf rust development may start in June and last until leaves senesce at the end of July. For many years, triticale was considered