Punjab Agricultural University today warned of severe damage to wheat yield if yellow rust disease was not controlled at the earliest.
A survey conducted by PAU found the appearance of yellow rust disease in the sub-mountainous areas of Ropar, Hoshiarpur, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar and Gurdaspur districts.
Elaborating further, the head of the Department of Plant Pathology T S Thind said that due to the changing weather, the conditions were becoming favourable for the spread of the disease. "If not controlled, the disease can adversely affect yield performance of wheat," he said.
Advising the farmers, the PAU experts asked them to inspect the crop at regular intervals.
"The disease results in the formation of yellow stripes on leaves. In case the symptoms of yellow rust disease are noticed on the crop, one should go for spot application of the recommended fungicides immediately to check further spread of this disease," stressed the PAU scientists.
Punjab has put 35 lakh hectares area under wheat cultivation for the current Rabi season and expects wheat output of 154 lakh MT.
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