As Punjab’s paddy crop enters its final ripening stage, farmers already affected by devastating floods are struggling with two major threats—haldi rog (false smut) and “Chinese virus”, officially known as the southern rice black-streaked dwarf virus (SRBSDV).
The dwarf virus has affected paddy crops in around 11,000 acres, mostly in Patiala (7,000 acres) and Fatehgarh Sahib (3,500 acres) districts, even though it was detected in June, barely a month after transplantation.
The farmers are also reporting widespread cases of haldi rog (false smut), a fungal disease also called richmen’s disease. It has been spotted in almost all districts but only a couple of acres have been affected in some districts, while several acres have been affected in others. The disease typically strikes during the flowering stage, coating grains with yellow powdery balls, resembling turmeric—hence the name haldi rog.
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“False smut, often nicknamed the ‘rich man’s disease’, tends to appear in fields with high soil fertility and on high-yielding paddy varieties. We emphasise that it is not a contagious disease—if one or more grains on a panicle are infected, it does not spread to other grains on the same panicle, nor does it move to other panicles of the same plant,” said Dr
Mandeep Singh Hunjan, Principal Plant Pathologist at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU).“Continuous rainfall during August created favorable conditions for its development. Where it occurs, the affected grains swell and turn into distinct yellow balls, making the disease quite visible in the field. The encouraging fact, however, is that crop losses from false smut are negligible – very little,” said Dr Hunjan.
“Farmers need not panic or spend money on unnecessary sprays at this stage when the crop is almost ready for harvest. The infection actually occurred in mid- to late August. What farmers see now is only its visible form. With the return of sunshine, it will not spread further, and infected grains cannot be revived,” he explained.
Preventive sprays effective only at early stage
Dr Hunjan said that preventive sprays are effective only if applied at the early stage of panicle emergence—half a kilogram per acre of PAU-recommended fungicide. “After this stage, sprays are of no use. False smut is also more common in fields where excessive nitrogen has been applied. Some farmers, aware of their soil conditions, even resort to preventive ‘blind sprays’ before panicle development to check the disease,” he added.As far as the dwarf virus is concerned, farmers reported cases of stunted or dwarf paddy plants, particularly in PR-131 and PR-128 varieties, though a few other varieties were also affected. It is a viral disease spread by the whitebacked planthopper, a pest common in Punjab’s rice-wheat belt.
The disease, first reported in Punjab in 2022, damaged nearly 34,000 hectares that year. Infected plants show poor growth, narrow and upright leaves, shallow roots, and are often just half or even a third of the normal height. In severe cases, they wilt and die prematurely, causing major yield losses.
Jaswant Singh, Director, Punjab Agriculture Department, told The Indian Express that dwarfing of the plants was reported from around 11,000 acres of paddy crop, with nearly 10,500 acres in Patiala and Fatehgarh Sahib districts.
“Under the conditions of outbreak of this disease, infected plants should be uprooted and buried deep to check spread. This disease completely destroys an affected plant,” Jaswant Singh said.
Haldi rog has appeared only recently and field reports are being collected,” he said, adding that to avoid the outbreak of any disease, the regular monitoring of the fields is important by the farmers and also recommend balanced fertiliser use.
