Wheat growers advised to stay cautious; 10 lakh tonnes of the crop worth around Rs 1,400 cr was damaged in 2013 With yellow rust attack on the wheat crop spreading beyond the ‘kandi’ (marshy) belt along the Shivalik foothills, farmers as well as officials in the Agriculture Department are a worried lot. It is a fungal disease that holds the potential to devastate the crop, thus considerably affecting its yield. Besides wheat, it can attack barley. The disease has surfaced in patches in the crop standing on over 30,000 acres. Punjab grows wheat on 87 lakh acres, of which over 8 lakh acres lies in the kandi belt. The disease-prone areas are in Pathankot, Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahr, Ropar, Mohali and Gurdaspur districts. The spores of the disease travel to the plains of Punjab, particularly along the Shivalik foothills, from Una, Kangra and Hamirpur districts of Himachal Pradesh. In the hill state, the spores survive on wild plants even during the summer season. These fly down to the lower hills from the upper Himalayas, say farm experts. Last year, an estimated 10 lakh tonnes (worth Rs 1,400 crore) of wheat was lost. Earlier, it was believed that yellow rust spores would only surface and survive when the mercury rose a bit during winters. But a latest research has shown that the fungus has strains that can even survive in extreme cold weather. The Punjab Government has directed its officials to monitor the situation on a day-to-day basis, though the disease is yet to acquire an alarming proportion. Kahan Singh Pannu, Secretary (Agriculture), said: “In a latest survey, the disease has been detected in certain fields in a village near Chamkaur Sahib in Ropar district. The earlier affected areas were in Hoshiarpur and Nurpur Bedi belts.” Pannu said the prevailing weather conditions were highly conducive for the quick spread of the disease to new areas. The government has arranged 2.32 lakh litres of agro-chemicals for the affected farmers on 50 per cent subsidy. Officials have been told to use all available means of communication, including loud speakers, to spread awareness among villagers. Teams from Punjab Agricultural University had also surveyed the areas prone to the disease recently. Though the spread of the disease can be checked by spraying fungicides, experts say farmers need to keep a close watch on the crop. Whenever any symptoms are noticed, these must be reported to the Agriculture Department officials at the block and district level, they say. “Farmers need to spray 200 millilitres of propiconazole fungicide by mixing it with water. It costs about Rs 60 per acre. If the fungus persists, another spray is recommended after 15 days,” said Kulbir Singh Deol, Chief Agriculture Officer, Hoshiarpur. All about yellow rust It is a fungal disease that attacks the wheat crop, thus affecting its yield The disease obstructs photosynthesis, which in turn triggers withering of the grain, thus affecting the grain size It is mostly witnessed in 'kandi' (marshy) belts, spread over 6 lakh hectares in Punjab It is a kind of fungi that appears in the shape of yellow or orange-coloured powder or dust on the leaves of wheat plant It can result in a huge crop loss of up to 50 per cent in case its attack manages to acquire the shape of an epidemic The remedy Farmers need to spray 200 millilitres of propiconazole fungicide by mixing it with water It costs about ~60/acre If the fungus persists, another spray is recommended after 15 days Cause for concern Yellow rust has been detected in certain fields in a village near Chamkaur Sahib in Ropar district The earlier affected areas were in Hoshiarpur and Nurpur Bedi belts The disease has surfaced in patches in the crop standing on more than 30,000 acres Other disease-prone areas are in Pathankot, Nawanshahr, Ropar, Mohali and Gurdaspur districts