Yellow rust fungus threatens to ruin wheat crop in Haryana
Yellow rust — a fungal disease — has been reported from wheat farms in Haryana, bringing worries to the farmers of the region who were expecting a bumper crop this year.
Following the development, agriculture experts and officials of the state agriculture department have advised farmers to be vigilant as they suggested the ongoing weather conditions are conducive for its spread.
According to the officials at state agriculture department, temperature hovering between 15 and 20 degrees Celsius with humidity above 80 per cent can facilitate the spread of the disease. “Yellow rust has been reported from Ladwa and Shahbad blocks of Kurukshetra district and we have advised farmers to spray Propiconazole 25 EC (Tilt) to prevent the disease from spreading,” Karam Chand, deputy director of Haryana agriculture department told HT.
He added, “This period is very crucial for the crop. Around this time, temperature generally fluctuates and humidity remains high, making the chances of the disease spreading high.”
The development has worried the farmers as they were expecting a bumper crop due to favourable weather conditions prevailing since the sowing of the crop in October.
“Yellow rust is a dangerous disease for wheat, which is in maturing stage, as it may affect its growth by turning the crop yellow,” said Dharambir, a wheat grower from Nilokheri in Karnal.
He added, “For last two-three years, yellow rust has become a common disease in wheat. Last year also it caused huge losses to the farmers.”
Another farmer Rajesh Kamboj of Radaur in Yamunanagar district, said, “Besides affecting the crop, yellow rust also increases production cost as the farmers have to use costly fungicides to protect the crop from the disease.”
Officials at the agriculture department are expecting a bumper crop as they have estimated 114 lakh MT of wheat production this year despite a marginal fall in the acreage which has slipped to 25.50 lakh hectares from 25.75 lakh hectares as compared to last year. According to scientists, yellow rust appears in the form of powdery yellow stripes on plants. The disease usually hits the crops early in the season, when temperature ranges between 10 degrees Celsius and 20 degrees Celsius. High humidity and rainfall are favourable conditions for increasing infection on both the leaf blade and leaf sheath and even on spikes when in epidemic form, leading to fewer spikes, loss in number of grains per spike and grain weight.
The disease spreads with the wind and losses by the disease can vary from 50% to 90%.
Scientists have advised farmers to consult experts for confirmation of yellow rust and to spray a solution of Propiconazole 25 EC (Tilt) or Tiebuconazole 250 EC (folicur) to control its spread.
A survey by the Union health ministry to determine quality of drugs, has found more than 10% of the drugs in the government supply chain ‘not of standard quality’ (NSQ).
The survey by the National Institute of Biologicals, Noida, found the estimated percentage of NSQ drugs from samples taken from retail outlets across the country was 3% and spurious drugs were found to be 0.023%.
The extent of NSQ and spurious drugs of both retail outlets as well as government sources in the country together was estimated to be 3.16% and 0.0245% respectively, the survey found.
The statistical design of the drug survey included as many as 224 drug molecules belonging to 15 different therapeutic categories of the National List of Essential Medicines 2011. 47,954 drug samples relating to 23 dosage forms were drawn from 654 districts of 36 states and UTs, an official statement said.