Impact of stripe rust infection on the performance of wheat cultivars in Rupnagar district of Punjab, India

Losses in wheat yield due to the attack of stripe rust disease caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici were assessed under natural field conditions. An experiment was conducted on wheat cultivars having different degree of resistance against stripe rust at three locations continuously for three years in disease prone areas of district Rupnagar, Punjab which is situated in sub-mountainous region of northern India. The infection of stripe rust on cultivar HD 2967 was higher with 80S final rust severity and Area Under Disease Progress Curve (AUDPC) values of 1919 in unprotected plots which caused 72.31% yield reduction. The loss in yield due to stripe rust varied with the resistance level of the cultivar. The correlation coefficient (r) was estimated between wheat yield and disease parameters, revealing a negative correlation. Similarly, net income and the benefit-cost ratio were negatively correlated with disease parameters Final Rust Severity (FRS) and AUDPC, indicating that an increase in disease severity led to greater yield losses and reduced profitability. The relationships between disease parameters and yield components are key factors in guiding the implementation of disease management strategies and assessing their impact on crop productivity and economic returns.