Potato and tomato crops damaged in Punjab

LUDHIANA: Tomato and Potato crops in several parts of the state were severely damaged by 'Late Blight', a devastating tuber disease, a Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) expert said.

"As per our observations, nearly 10 to 20 per cent of potato as well as tomato crops have been damaged by Late Blight in Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts of Punjab," PAU Head Plant Pathology SK Mann said.

Stating that the present weather conditions have led to the emergence of Late Blight, she added that in some areas, the disease has completely damaged both the crops.

The potato crop in the state was damaged by late blight disease two months back also.

PAU expert advised the farmers to follow the recommended farming practice in order to prevent the harmful impact of late blight on tomato and potato crops.

In Punjab, potato crop is sown over 75,000 hectares of land in the state with an annual produce of 12 lakh tonne.

The tomato crop is sown over 8,000 hectares of land which annual production of 1.93 lakh tonne.