Farmers of the Rajgarh area in Sirmaur upset due to yellow rust disease in Garlic
Farmers are worried about the yellow rust disease in Garlic in the Rajgarh area of Sirmaur District in Himachal Pradesh as the crop was about to harvest at the end of this month.
Farmers say that botrytis die back disease taking a heavy toll on their production and currently their corps is not getting fair prices. The color of garlic leaves in the fields has turned yellowish which shows symptoms of yellow rust disease in the Garlic crop. This region is once known for Ginger production but due to similar diseases in the Ginger farmers have switched over to large-scale production of Garlic which is the mainstay of their livelihood. Sirmaur’s Garlic is considered the best in quality and taste, due to which there is a large demand for their crop in the country and abroad.
Agriculture Expert Rajgarh Dr. Hira Lal Azad said that cash crops like tomato, peas, capsicum, and French beans are produced in large quantities in the Rajgarh area besides garlic. The department has advised farmers to spray Difenconazole 25% EC for the treatment of Blight disease in Lasuhan and 25 EC or Hexaconazole 5 EC and Butaconazole Fusarium Wilt for yellow rust disease.
Dr. Azad said that blight causes damage to the roots and leaves of Garlic while yellow rust causes the leaves to turn yellow, which causes dust to fall from the leaves while touching them. It is necessary to treat this disease from the initial stage. This crop is sowing along with the Rabi crop. Farmers do not require much effort to take care of as they normally did not require pesticides and too many fertilizers. The crop gets ready within about 5-6 months. Garlic of Giripar has heavy demand in the Market of South India. The hill Garlic is endowed with medicinal properties.
According to the Agriculture Department, Garlic is cultivated on four thousand hectares of land in the district, which produces an average of 60 to 70 thousand metric tons of Garlic every year.
Anyway, for the last two years, the maximum rate of the crop in the market of Chennai and Maharashtra has been Rs.120 per kg. Last year farmers had stored Garlic for several months, but when there was no increase in the rate of the crop, they had to sell it at one-fourth price.
