Incidence of paddy bunt in seeds of farmers and seed producers in Haryana state

Roving surveys were conducted in eight districts (Jind, Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, Karnal, Hisar, Kaithal, Fatehabad and Sirsa) of Haryana state in 2019 and 12 districts (Jind, Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, Karnal, Hisar, Kaithal, Fatehabad, Sirsa, Panipat, Ambala, Sonipat and Rohtak) of Haryana state in 2020 with the aim to know the incidence of paddy bunt. During Kharif 2019 and 2020, unprocessed farmers’ seed samples were collected and analyzed for paddy bunt. A total of 1119 samples were analyzed and out of which only 561 samples (50.13%) were found infected. The range of infection was 0.05–0.90 per cent in 2019 and 0.05–0.60 per cent in 2020. There was rejection of nine seed samples because infection was above the prescribed limit of standards stated by iMscs. The overall average bunt was found 0.042 and 0.048 per cent, respectively in both the years. while in case of unprocessed seed samples (261) procured from different public and private seed producers covering five district were analyzed and only 28 samples (10.72%) were found infected with the infection range of 0.05–0.20 per cent. There was no rejection of seed samples because the infection was within prescribed limit of certification. Among these infected samples, highest infection was recorded in varieties viz. Pusa-44 followed by HKR-127, PR 118 and PB-1.