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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Fungus hits wheat crop, northern states on alert by Madhvi Sally

Fungus hits wheat crop, northern states on alert by Madhvi Sally

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published Published on Jan 5, 2012   modified Modified on Jan 5, 2012

State governments in north India have put their agriculture officials on alert with the yellow rust disease affecting the winter wheat crop in parts of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.

The fungal disease forms yellow stripes on leaves, hindering photosynthesis and leading to stunted growth and shrivelled grain. India needs a bumper wheat crop this year to meet growing demand in ration shops as well as in the open market.

The Haryana agriculture department has asked district officials to educate farmers on checking the spread of the disease. "In 2011, over 92,000 hectare of wheat crop was reported to be under attack from yellow rust across six districts of Haryana. Not taking chances, we are now stocking up propoconizole, a fungicide spray, which we will sell to farmers with a 50% subsidy," said Haryana additional agriculture director BS Duggal.

Similarly, the Uttar Pradesh government has directed assistant directors of agriculture to visit fields along with farmers, Krishi Vigyan Kendra members and agricultural university professors to inspect the crop. The step is being taken to stop the disease from spreading towards the rest of the northwestern plains and the northern hill zone.

The prevailing cold conditions with intermittent rains are conducive for the growth and spread of the disease. "Farmers in Ropar in Punjab and Una in Himachal Pradesh have reported the incidences of the crop being hit by yellow rust. The impact is not widespread and wheat-growing states are on alert," said Dr Indu Sharma, head of Directorate of Wheat Research, Karnal. She added that old and non-recommended seeds were susceptible to the yellow rust disease.

In 2011, the six major wheat-growing states of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand were hit by the disease. "The spread of the disease was huge but there were negligible losses due to timely intervention by the Indian Council of Agriculture Research and state agriculture departments. A loss of over 3 million tonne could have been there but was prevented," said Sharma.

According to a rough estimate, wheat crop across 3 lakh hectare was hit by yellow rust in 2011 across India. On an average, wheat production per hectare varies between 31 and 46 quintal.

Yellow rust is one of the serious diseases threatening wheat cultivation. Punjab Agriculture University's plant pathology department head Dr TS Thind said the disease has appeared in the wheat crop in the sub-mountainous districts of Punjab during the last couple of years.

"The disease has been seen spreading in village Sunehra (Una) and Patti and Dher (Ropar)," he said.


The Economic Times, 5 January, 2012, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/agriculture/fungus-hits-wheat-crop-northern-states-on-alert/articleshow/11370002.cms


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