The Hindu Business Line : Karnal Bunt threat to wheat on untimely rains

THE country's wheat exports could take a hit on account of the current unseasonal rains across the north-western plains, which, crop scientists say, is `very conducive' for Karnal Bunt (KB) disease.

"We are keeping our fingers crossed. The wheat crop, particularly in Punjab and Haryana, is now at the earhead emergence stage. Rains at this time are very conducive for the grain being infested by KB,'' said Dr A.K. Sharma, Principal Investigator (Crop Protection) at the Directorate of Wheat Research (DWR), Karnal.

Echoing a similar view was Dr G.S. Nanda, Director of Research at the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. "There could be some KB this time. Hopefully, the weather would clear out and there will be good sunshine in the next few days,'' he told Business Line.

Significantly, the country has had no serious outbreak of KB— a disease caused by a fungal pathogen, Neovossia indica— since the 1995-96 crop year. Around 70 per cent of wheat samples collected from different mandis in Punjab during the 1996 harvest season were found to be KB-infected, with the intensity of infection being above seed certification limits for as many as 37 per cent of the samples. The subsequent crop years have reported very low incidence as well as infection levels.

Although KB is said to not cause any sizable loss in terms of either quality or quantity of grain, it is subject to very tight quarantine regulations internationally.

Iran, for instance, does not buy any wheat from India on grounds of it being KB-infested. Last year, Pakistan, too, cited the `KB-factor' while refusing to extend transit facility for the wheat being supplied by the country to Afghanistan under the World Food Programme. It is a different matter though that KB has been detected even in Pakistan, besides in Mexico, Iraq and the Arizona belt of the US.

KB is basically a seed-borne disease that is transmitted to the soil upon planting. The fungal spores are very hardy and are known to remain viable in the soil for 2-5 years. It is the wheat grown in Punjab, Haryana and West Uttar Pradesh— usually sown around mid-November— that is most prone for infection, given that the germination and multiplication of the spores is almost synchronous with the crop's `heading' stage.

The spores germinate towards end-January or early-February at around 15 degree Celsius, after which they reach the leaf surface. From there, they move up to the flag leaf portion (which covers the earhead), where they further multiply and incubate.

"The possibility of the grain being affected arises precisely at the present stage when the earhead is popping out. Rains now are not good because the splash of rainwater would cause the spores to reach the earhead and finally the grain,'' Dr Sharma noted.

The entire northern wheat belt has been experiencing widespread rainfall since the start of the this week, courtesy the influence of "Western Disburbances (in the form of) upper air cyclonic circulation over Jammu & Kashmir'' and "a well-marked low pressure area over West Rajasthan and neighbourhood''.

Dr Sharma said while it was still early to draw conclusions on KB, "we need to keep a close watch and hope for no further rainfall and cloudy weather''. But according to the India Meterological Department (IMD), "the ongoing rain/snowfall activity over Western Himalayan region, plains of North-West India, Gangetic plains and adjoining central India is likely to continue in the next 48 hours''.

The country's wheat exports have been on upswing in the last two years, which have incidentally also been KB-free. Since November 2000, over 11 million tonnes of wheat have been lifted from public stocks for exports, with the current fiscal alone (till end-January) recording total lifting of 5.2 million tonnes by exporters.

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