Late blight, rust attack on potato and pea crops in Pb

Farm scientists of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) today said that late blight disease in potato crop and rust in pea has been noticed in Hoshiarpur district which if not checked can spread quickly and affect the yield.
According to a recent survey, late blight disease in potato crops has been noticed in the villages Maheteaana, Fuglana, Simbli, Monakalan, and Kalkat of Hoshiarpur district, P S Sekhon, Head of Plant Pathology Department in PAU said.
Weather conditions during last week have been conducive for the attack of this disease, which if not checked, can spread quickly and affect the crop yield, he said.

Talking about symptoms of this disease, Sekhon said, water soaked spots appear on margins of the leaves which later turn into black patches with whitish fungus growth visible on lower surface in the morning hours.
He advised farmers to monitor their fields regularly and in case the symptoms are noticed, the crops should be sprayed with '500 -700 gm of Indofil M-45' or 'Antracol or Kavach' in 250 -350 litres of water to check its further spread.
Rust, a fungal disease in pea has also appeared in the villages Pham, Patti, Badla, Kharkeand Hariyian of Hoshiarpur district, Sekhon said and advised the farmers to take recommended steps in order to prevent attack of this diseases.

With the development of rust disease, yellow to dark coloured circular spots appear on pea leaves, he said, adding the crop should be sprayed with '400g of Indofil M-45' in 200 litres of water per acre.
Repeat two or three sprays at the interval of 10 days to control the disease, Sekhon advised the farmers.