Activities within the grant and impact:
Potato crop is grown in more than 75,000 hectares (ha) in Punjab. With private buyers like Potato Growers Associations, PepsiCo, etc., there is wider scope of diversification for this crop, especially in rain-fed areas of Hoshiarpur district, where rice is replacing the Kharif maize crop.

Unfortunately, this area is prone to diseases that spell doom for the potato crop. These include late blight (Phytophthora Infestans), black scurf (Rhizoctonia Solani), scab (Streptomyces Scabies) and other viral infections. Scientists working on the problem have established that cultural practices like early sowing reduce the incidence of blight attack, and frequent irrigations and green manure reduce incidence of scab disease.

Unfortunately, wrong practices adopted by farmers such as the use of diseased seed, dumping of culled potato tubers near cold stores, wrong choice of fungicides and spray nozzles, etc. have resulted in widespread diseases. In response to the large gaps between practices adopted by farmers in field, and the research conducted by PAU, the department of plant pathology is popularising integrated disease management in potato through seed treatment, appropriate cultural practices and fungicides’ spray technology, by conducting demonstrations at farmers’ fields.

The operational plan includes the ten demonstrations, which will be carried out with 10 farmers on 10 acres of land in Hoshiarpur district. Totally, 30 farmers will be selected over a three-year period. One trained village-level worker will meet with the farmers on a daily basis, and will help in the adoption of the complete package of practices in the field.

The return over operational costs, in the case of the potato crop, is Rs8,000 per acre, which decreases significantly to Rs5,000 per acre due to the occurrence of late blight. It is expected that post interventions, the farmers’ awareness about controlling diseases will increase, and will benefit them to the tune of about Rs0.45 million.

Efforts will also be made to disseminate the newly emerged technology after tying up with Potato Growers Associations and other private collective initiatives currently functioning in Punjab, through joint trainings and exposure tours. Besides, the technology will be also be disseminated by district extension specialists through KVKs in other areas of Punjab.

Wheat is an important staple food crop in India, and its cultivation is the source of livelihood for farmers in Punjab. However, high yielding dwarf varieties of this crop presently cultivated are susceptible to a number of diseases, including:

	Smuts
	Rusts
	Karnal Bunt

This leads to huge annual losses. Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur and Jalandhar districts have experienced severe problems due to these diseases, which are chiefly caused because of the farmers’ ignorance of contemporary research technologies, the prolonged use of the same seed, and non-usage of appropriate fungicides.

The operational plan includes selecting 30 farmers annually, from Hoshiarpur, Ropar and Gurdaspur districts, each contributing an acre of land. Gaps in extension would subsequently be demonstrated in their fields. Simultaneously, they would be educated about the identification of different diseases through photographs, and typical visible symptoms, besides being trained on the management of various diseases in the field.

The average return over operational cost in case of wheat is Rs11,000 per acre, which decreases significantly to Rs7,000 per acre when severe cases of smut and rust occur. It is expected that after the interventions, the farmers’ awareness about controlling disease will increase.

The proposed 90 farmers will benefit to the tune of Rs1.8 million over a three-year period. It is further expected that the farmers would be able to adopt cultural practices that reduce the occurrence of disease in wheat, and the input cost too.