207 consignments are found to be contaminated by pests
The 28-member European Union has temporarily banned the import of Alphonso mangoes, the king of fruits, and four vegetables from India from May 1, sparking protests from the Indian community, lawmakers and traders.
Yellow rust and aphid have attacked wheat crop in the district.
After the first case of yellow rust was detected in Ratangarh village last month, the disease has now affected over 300 acres of the crop. Besides yellow rust, aphid insect has also attacked the crop.
As many as 25 acres of land was affected from yellow rust in the Yamuna belt, mainly Yamunanagar and Karnal, making it the most affected area in this regard.
The Punjab Government today directed the District Chief Agriculture Officers to step up monitoring of the wheat crop affected by yellow rust in the state.
Wheat growers advised to stay cautious; 10 lakh tonnes of the crop worth around Rs 1,400 cr was damaged in 2013
With yellow rust attack on the wheat crop spreading beyond the ‘kandi’ (marshy) belt along the Shivalik foothills, farmers as well as officials in the Agriculture Department are a worried lot.
After Yamunanagar, the fungal disease yellow rust has now reached Hansu Majra, a village in Karnal.
A scientist from the Directorate of Wheat Research (DWR), Karnal, and the Agriculture Department had visited a farm in the village recently and collected samples. The Agriculture Department today constituted a state, district and block-level team to monitor and assist the scientist of the DWR.
To discuss measures to tackle the disease at a meeting today
Agriculture experts, Vice-Chancellors and scientists of farm universities and state Agriculture Departments of northern states will meet at Una tomorrow to discuss measures to tackle yellow rust disease in wheat growing states.
