Context - Based on the input from wheat researchers and the weather bureau, the Karnal-based Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR) has appealed to the farmers to remain vigilant against yellow rust, a pest used to appear a few years ago in some districts of Haryana during this period.
Key facts about yellow rust:
- Yellow Rust disease appears as yellow stripes of powder or dust on leaves and leaf sheaths of the wheat crop. This yellow powder comes out on clothing or fingers when touched.
- Rust colonies in the leaves drain the carbohydrates from the plant and reduce the green leaf area.
- The main economic loss from yellow rust is in wheat.
- The disease does occur in barley but it is rare due to effective varietal resistance.
- Areas that have cool, damp summers and mild winters are prone to yellow rust infections, for example, coastal regions or regions around rivers or estuaries.
- Epidemics of yellow rust often start as individual plants, usually in the autumn.
- Symptoms develop slowly over winter and are often missed until the early spring when small patches or foci of infected plants can be seen in fields.
- These patches usually spread in the direction of prevailing wind.
- In India, yellow rust is a major disease in the Northern Hill Zone and the North-Western Plain Zone and spreads easily during the onset of cool weather.
A new variety of wheat called HD-3226 or Pusa Yashasvi was released by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, which had higher levels of resistance against major rust fungi such as the yellow/stripe, brown/leaf and black/stem. According to the IIWBR advisory, if farmers observe yellow rust in patches in their wheat fields, they should spray fungicides.