Chandigarh: After floods damaging considerable
tracts of paddy fields in Punjab, now two diseases sheath
blight’ and ‘foot rot’ have attacked the crop in the state,
which have the potential of adversely affecting crop yield if
preventive measures are not taken at the earliest.
Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) have found the
diseases attacking paddy fields in Ropar, Patiala, Ludhiana
and Amritsar districts of the state on all varieties, with
current weather conditions remaining favourable for spreading
of these fungus diseases.
The incidence of sheath blight attack on paddy fields
remained up to 20 per cent while incidence of foot rot disease
found to be as high of 40 per cent.
“The intermittent rains provide conditions favourable for
disease development. Both these diseases can have a negative
impact on the crop yield if these are not controlled," PAU
Plant Pathologist Department Head T S Thind said today.
“Sheath blight can be recognised from light green to
straw coloured lesions with purple margins on the lower part
of the leaf sheath near the water level. When weather
conditions are favourable for the disease, it can spread to
upper leaves and inflorescence thus affecting yield reaching
panicle emergence stage,” said Thind.
Farm experts advised farmers to clean rice fields as
pathogen can survive on grassy weeds.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, September 01, 2011, 15:15