PAU CAUTIONS FARMERS AGAINST YELLOW RUST DISEASE OF WHEAT CROP

LUDHIANA, JANUARY 25:



Yellow rust is one of the serious fungal diseases of wheat affecting the yield of the crop tremendously. For the last 4-5 years, the disease is regularly appearing in the sub-mountainous districts of the Punjab state," informed Dr P.P. Singh, Head, Department of Plant Pathology, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU). The yellow rust disease, if not checked, can cause yield losses to the tune of more than 60 per cent, he cautioned.



The scientists of the Department of Plant Pathology and Wheat Section of the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics are regularly monitoring the appearance of yellow rust in the fields of the farmers of sub-mountainous areas of Punjab, told Dr Singh. Till date, the disease has been observed in three villages namely Mahindpur (Block Saroya) of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Surewal in Anandpur Sahib block, and Mothapur in Noorpur Bedi block of district Ropar.



About the symptoms of the yellow rust disease, Dr Singh said that the disease appears in the form of elongated yellow coloured powdery stripes on the leaves of the wheat crop. When touched with hands, the yellow coloured powdery mass sticks to the fingers which confirms the identity of the disease, he told. Under serious conditions, the disease can affect the ears of the crop. Initially, the disease appears in patches in the field from where it spreads further to the same and adjoining fields under favorable weather conditions of high relative humidity and a temperature range of 10-15 ˚C, said Dr Singh.



As the weather is becoming congenial for the appearance of initial infection foci of the disease, the farmers are advised to monitor their fields regularly for the appearance of the disease and spray the infected foci with fungicides Tilt/Shine/Bumper or Folicur or Bayleton @ 1 ml in 1 litre of water. Dr Singh further advised the farmers that if the fields are free from the disease, then there is no need to spray the crop with fungicides. For further queries, the experts of Plant Pathology can be contacted at phone no.0161-2401960/Ext. 319.




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