LUDHIANA, FEBRUARY 6: Yellow rust is a serious fungal disease, affecting the yield of wheat crop in Punjab. The disease is becoming a matter of concern for the farmers of sub-mountainous areas during the past few years, said Dr T.S. Thind, Head, Department of Plant Pathology, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU). He told the disease could be easily recognized from the appearance of elongated yellow coloured powdery stripes on the lower leaves of the wheat crop. The recent survey, conducted by the Plant Pathologists of the PAU, divulged the presence of yellow rust on wheat in the villages of Rupnagar district namely Patti, Dher, Surewal, Fatehpur, Daula Taprian, Fatehgrah Viran, Rasidpur and Fasemund. Besides, the disease has also been observed in the Chhadhauri and Jagatpur villages of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar and Baghpur and Pungha Blak villages of Hoshiarpur. Due to the changing weather, the yellow rust disease has become more visible and can cause harm, cautioned Dr Thind.
He advised the farmers to monitor the crops regularly and told that on noticing the disease, spray the crops with Tilt/Shine/Bumper or Folicur @ 200 ml or Bayleton @ 200g in 200 litres of water per acre. For further queries, the farmers can contact the PAU experts of Plant Pathology at telephone No.0161-2401960/Ext. 319.
