PAU cautions against late blight, rust attack

Plant pathology experts at the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) have cautioned farmers against an attack of late blight disease in potato and rust, a fungal disease, in pea.
The prevailing weather conditions in Punjab are favourable for the development and initiation of late blight in potatoes and rust in pea in districts such as Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala and SBS Nagar, Head of Plant Pathology at the PAU, P S Sekhon, said in a release.
The weather conditions in the current week are conducive for the late blight disease, which if not checked, can spread quickly and affect the crop, he warned.

90 per cent is highly favourable for the development and spread of the disease," Sekhon said.
The disease can be recognised from the presence of water-soaked dark brown lesions on leaves, showing the cottony growth of the fungus under the surface of leaves, he said.