Management of yellow rust of wheat under organic farming system

Non judicious use of chemical pesticides and inputs in conventional farming system led to severe problems such as resistance development in pathogens, environmental pollution, soil degradations and pesticide residue. Due to awareness in masses regarding these problems, organic farming and organically grown food is becoming popular among consumers and farmers. Wheat is one of the major crops grown under organic farming system in Punjab and like conventional system it is also attacked by several diseases among which yellow rust is a major problem. If a susceptible or moderately susceptible variety is grown in field then, problem of yellow rust disease becomes a major issue as no fungicide is allowed in organic farming. In this study Indigenous Knowledge (ITKs) based products, commercially available non chemical products and their combinations namely fermented buttermilk (FBM) @ 20%, neem kavach @1.5%, home made neem extract (HMNE) @ 1.5%, FBM @ 20% + neem kavach @ 1.5% and FBM @ 20% + HMNE @ 1.5% along with recommended chemical check propiconazole 25EC @ 0.1% were tested for management of yellow rust of wheat at experimental research farm, School of Organic Farming, PAU during 2019-20 and 2020-21. Minimum terminal rust severity (56.7%) and maximum per cent reduction over control (43.4%) was recorded in FBM @ 20% and FBM @ 20% + Neem Kavach @ 1.5% treatments as compared to the control where terminal rust severity was 100%. Chemical check propiconazole 25EC @ 0.1% inhibited the growth of yellow rust completely. FBM @ 20% and FBM @ 20% + Neem Kavach @ 1.5% was most effective treatments to manage yellow rust disease along with yield of 13.7 q/acre and 13.6 q/acre, respectively that was at par with each other. Similar to the yield maximum number of tillers was also recorded in FBM @ 20% + Neem Kavach @ 1.5% (8.0) and FBM @ 20% (7.6). During this study FBM@20%, Neem Kavach@1.5% and their combination was not so effective as chemical check but succeeded in reducing the rust by 40-43.4% as compared to control. In organic farming system farmers can use these non chemical products for yellow rust management under organic farming system.