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Paddy disease destroys crop, spreads panic in Punjab

A deadly disease, which has afflicted the paddy, including basmati, crop in certain blocks of the border districts of Amritsar and Gurdaspur, has created panic among the farmers and concern among experts.

The agricultural experts are still probing in the dark about this mysterious epidemic first noticed in Gurdaspur district two years back even as the farmers now refer to it as ''jaundice''.

It is found that the afflicted paddy plant first turns pale yellow and gradually starts decaying. It also results in the stunted growth of the paddy plant due to which grains do not form on top of the plant. The varieties sown late are more prone to its attack.

State agriculture director A S Randhawa, who toured the afflicted areas yesterday, said that 30,000 hectares of paddy in Gurdaspur district and 1,200 hectares in Amritsar district had been affected by this mysterious disease. The existing insecticides, weedicides or pesticides have failed to control the spread of the disease, which was limited to only a couple of hectares in 1996 and last year, he added.

Last week agricultural experts from the International Rice Research Institute of the Philippines, the Indian Council for Agricultural Research, the Directorate of Rice Research Institute, Hyderabad, and the plant protection advisor to the central government toured the afflicted areas and took samples of the affected crop.

Experts from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, also assisted in the collection of the samples.

Amritsar district agricultural officer Swaran Singh admitted that the visiting experts had failed to understand the nature of this disease. ''As per the views of the experts from the Phillippines, the disease was similar to a paddy epidemic known as 'tungru' which is quite common in rice-growing countries of China, Indonesia and the Philippines,'' he said.

Dr Singh said the disease was a matter of concern as the affected areas are in the basmati producing belt of the country. These areas include the Dhariwal and Fatehgarh Churian blocks of Gurdaspur district and Majitha block of Amritsar, he added.

According to agricultural experts, the yield of paddy was likely to fall by ten per cent in the two districts due to this disease which if not checked now could spread to other parts of the belt. Experts who have advised farmers not to use any sprays are also investigating whether this disease came from across the border as Pakistani basmati is also sown in the border districts, alongwith other varieties.

UNI