26 May Spot blotch disease of wheat: an emerging issue
गेहूं फसल का स्पॉट ब्लॉच रोग: एक उभरती हुई समस्या Wheat is the most widely grown and consumed food crop of the world. It is estimated that to maintain self-sufficiency in the availability of wheat in India, annual production of wheat should increase by 2 percent annually. Recent climate changes have aggravated the disease scenario in India which leads to increase in the incidence of Helminthosporium leaf blight of wheat i.e. spot blotch caused by the Bipolaris sorokiniana. In India, foliar blight is considered to be a complex issue due to presence of Alternaria sp. and Bipolaris sorokiniana in blighted leaf samples which make it difficult to identify the cause of disease in the field. However, B. sorokiniana dominates in Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Alternaria triticina is predominant in Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab (Goyal et al., 1999) This,spot blotch disease is of much economic importance in humid and warmer areas especially in North eastern plains zone (NEPZ), but due to climate change and crop intensification this disease is also gaining attention in north western, peninsular zone and central zone of India, posing new challenges to farmers. The rice and wheat rotations over larger areas in Punjab, Haryana, western U.P. and thereby causing delayed...