Paddy dwarfing disease spreading fast across region, farmers worried

Nitin Jain

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Ludhiana, September 3

The dwarf disease in paddy, caused due to the southern rice black-streaked dwarf virus (SRBSDV), seems to be spreading fast in the region, leaving the farmers worried, if the official figures are any indication.

What experts say

Stunted plants have been observed in rice and basmati fields. The stunting is more pronounced in early sown rice crop than the crop sown after June 25, irrespective of the variety. Farmers are urged not to use any pesticide. — Dr Satbir Singh Gosal, Vice Chancellor, PAU

Dwarf disease is due to a double-stranded RNA virus that was first reported from Southern China in 2001. The symptoms produced on the rice as well as the genome structure resemble that of rice black-streaked dwarf virus. Dr AS Dhatt, Director of research, PAU

THE TREATMENT

The virus is spread in the fields by the vector — white backed plant hopper (WBPH), which needs to be controlled in order to tackle the disorder. The farmers should regularly monitor the fields. The nymphs of WBPH fall in the water if one taps at the stem of the plant. To control it, the farmers have been advised to spray Triflumezopyrim 94 ml per acre or Dinotefuran 80 gm per acre or Pymetrozine 120 gm per 100 litres of water

While over 3,500 hectares of standing paddy crop has already been officially hit by the SRBSDV, which has appeared for the first time in Punjab, the latest survey conducted by the scientists of the Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) has also confirmed that stunted plants have been observed in rice and basmati fields in almost the entire state, especially in Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Ropar, Mohali, Hoshiarpur, Pathankot and Gurdaspur districts.

The incidence of stunted growth of paddy has been reported in various blocks of Ludhiana.

Confirming this, Chief Agriculture Officer (CAO) Amanjit Singh said on Friday that the investigation conducted by the Agriculture Department so far had revealed that the stunted growth had been seen mostly in patches and not the entire fields of paddy.

Ludhiana, which has grown paddy over 2,58,600 hectares this crop season, the highest ever in the state, has reported the disease over 3,500 hectares, which accounted for 1.35 per cent of the total area under paddy.

If the crop yield pattern and pricing was taken into consideration, the farmers in Ludhiana district alone have so far suffered a loss of over Rs 51.35 crore as at least 2,51,720 quintals of paddy yield has already been hit by the disease. In 2021-22, Ludhiana district had recorded 7,192 kg per hectare paddy yield and the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy for 2022-23 has been fixed at Rs 2,040 per quintal.

The Agriculture Department has confirmed stunted growth of paddy in Ludhiana block (300 hectares), Khanna (1,500 hectares), Samrala (1,100 hectares), Machhiwara (400 hectares), Doraha and Mangat (50 hectares each), and Sidhwan Bet block (100 hectares).

“It is mainly observed in early transplanted paddy crop and has been reported in varieties like PUSA-44, PR-126, and PR-121, which were transplanted between June 15 and 25,” the CAO said.

He said the stunting symptoms were observed in 5-7 per cent area of the affected fields.