Monitor wheat crop, PAU asks growers

Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) today advised wheat growers to regularly monitor crop to prevent any attack of yellow rust disease, though it said so far no case of fungal disease has been reported in Punjab.
"Farmers are advised to regularly monitor their wheat fields for appearance of initial infection foci (disease patches) of yellow rust," said PAU in a release here.
Yellow rust is one of the most serious diseases of wheat which can affect yield of the crop tremendously.
The disease generally appears initially in the sub- mountaineous districts of the state and can be recognised from the appearance of elongated yellow coloured powdery stripes on the leaves, it said.

"Till date, the disease has not been reported in any areas of the state. As weather conditions during the past one week were favourable for infection there is likelihood of its appearance shortly in the field," it said.
Yellow rust has attacked wheat crop in Yamunanagar in Haryana.