Yellow rust in Punjab rings alarms bells in state

Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Karnal, December 23

After the occurrence of yellow rust (stripe rust) in Anandpur Sahib and Ropar districts of Punjab, scientists of the Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR) have geared up to curb the disease in wheat crop.

The IIWBR has constituted teams of scientists, urging farmers to increase the vigil at their fields to check the occurrence and spread of yellow rust.

Indu Sharma, Director, IIWBR, told The Tribune the institute had received information about the occurrence of yellow rust in small patches in Anandpur Sahib and Ropar in the HD-2967 variety of wheat, which prompted both Punjab and Haryana, the major wheat-growing states, to take remedial measures.

“Since the weather is conducive for the occurrence of yellow rust, farmers should be more vigilant. They should increase the vigil to combat the fungal disease’s fast spread,” she said.

Yellow rust is a fungal disease that attacks leaves of wheat crop by forming yellow stripes during December-February and affects their photosynthesis activity, causing shrivelling of grain size.

It appears in Northern Hill Zone and North-Western Plain Zone.

“Farmers are advised to consult experts for confirmation of yellow rust symptoms as sometime yellowing of leaves may be due to other factors,” Sharma said.

She exhorted farmers to spray 0.1 per cent solution of Propiconazole 25 EC (Tilt) or Tiebuconazole 250 EC (folicur) or Triademephon 25 WP (Bayleton) to control the disease once it appears.

Last year, yellow rust was detected in Yamunanagar, Karnal, Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Hisar and Sirsa districts.