Agriculture Department issued advisory for prevention of blight disease in mustard and advised timely sowing and fertilization

Ludhiana : The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has issued an advisory regarding prevention of blight disease in mustard. Chief Agriculture Officer Dr. Narinder Singh Banipal also appealed to the farmers to sow mustard at the right time and apply recommended quantity of fertilizers to protect the crop from pest attack. He told the farmer heroes that the attack of leprosy in mustard usually occurs from January to mid-March, but this year due to the temperature being below normal in the month of January, its outbreak was not seen. Now, due to climate change, its attack has started in some places in the present circumstances and these insects cover a large number of flowers and pods and suck their juice.

As a result, the plant becomes dwarf, the pods dry up and seeds are not formed. Assistant Oilseeds Extension Officer Dr. Rupinder Kaur asked to use pesticides for oil control based on the number of pests on the plants and their damage potential. To estimate this, 12 to 16 plants located at different distances from each other are selected from one acre of land twice a week. He also told that if the number of insects again reaches the above level then it was advised to spray again and also to spray pesticides after 3 pm and after a week to pluck vegetables from the sprayed crop.