Keep monitoring wheat crop to check yellow rust disease: Karnal institute

As the wheat crop continues to grow at the tillering stage under cold weather conditions, the Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR), Karnal, on Monday issued an advisory for farmers across the country to avoid crop damage due to yellow rust.
In its fortnightly advisory, the central institute under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has urged the farmers to keep monitoring the wheat crop for the disease regularly to observe the development of yellow or stripe rust disease.
Keeping in view the ongoing climatic conditions that are favourable for the spread of the rust, the farmers have been asked to make a 0.1% solution of propiconazole 25 EC or 0.06% solution of tebuconazole 50% mixed with trifloxystrobin 25% WG that should be applied at the infectious area to avoid its further spread.
“One ml of chemical should be mixed in one litre of water and later 200 ml of fungicide mixed with 200 litre of water should be sprayed in one acre of the crop. For farmers who have applied one type of fungicide the previous year, it is suggested that they should apply an alternate recommended fungicide this year. They should spray the crop when weather is clear and there is no rain or fog or dew,” reads the advisory.
IIWBR Karnal director Gyanendra Singh said the advisory is valid till January 15 for sowing and other practices across zones based on the input from wheat researchers and the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) regarding precipitation and temperature forecast in the coming days.
“In the new verities developed by our institute in collaboration with other centres that are climate resilient and bio-fortified, there is a negligible chance for any disease. But even then, we have issued the advisory as a precautionary measure,” the director added.
The institute has also advised farmers growing paddy, maize, cotton and sugarcane in regards to pink borer disease that spreads through pink-coloured caterpillars on their lower veins, when the affected crop turns yellow and can be easily uprooted.
“Pest management can be done by hand picking infested tillers and their destruction will reduce borer attack. To avoid the infestation, the use of nitrogen fertilisers in split doses is advised. If infestation is more, a spray of 1,000 ml quinalphos 25% EC in 500 liters of water per hectare should be applied,” the advisory adds.
The IIWBR has also issued a list of very late varieties of wheat seeds that could be used by farmers in northern India due to late harvesting of sugar cane, cotton, rice, mustered and potato because of floods in Haryana and Punjab during the monsoon.
“The suitable varieties for very late include H. 3271, HI 1621, HD 2851 and WR 544. The sowing should be done using 50 kg/acre seed rate at a row spacing of 18 cm and the application of nitrogen dose should be completed up to 40-45 days after sowing. The urea should be applied just before irrigation,” it said.
The director said there are reports that in some areas under certain varieties, the flag leaf is appearing and showing signs of early heading (flowering).
“It is advised to the farmers not to spray any chemical on crop and try to irrigate the field and apply light nitrogen dose. The drop in temperature and dense fog in the past few weeks will aid the growth of wheat crop and we are likely to meet the target for 2023-24 of 114 MT wheat output,” Singh added.