Govt to survey gram crop hit by ‘Ugta’ disease in Bhilwara

Bhilwara: Teams of scientists from agriculture department will soon survey farms in Bhilwara district that have reported "Ugtha" (root drying) disease in gram crop. The disease affects the plant roots and causes standing crops to dry up. The gram crop was sown as the main Rabi season crop on 98,000 hectares this year in Bhilwara district, officials said.Joint director of agriculture dept in Bhilwara, Vinod Kumar Jain, said Thursday that teams of scientists would be formed soon to visit farmers' fields, assess the situation, and send a report to headquarters.
The disease has been reported from farms in Gulabpura, Shahpura, Phuliya Kala, Khari Ka Lamba, Gageda, Sareri and Taswariya areas of Bhilwara district. Farmer Ramkumar Jat said, "We had sown gram crop on 18 bighas with great hopes, but due to root drying disease, the plants are drying up. This disease has spread for the first time here." He added, "This time god has turned away from us, but we are hoping that the govt will provide some help to farmers."Jat said the crop had deteriorated so badly at some places that farmers would barely recover the cost of ploughing and labour.Jain said the disease cannot be treated in standing crops. For prevention, he advised farmers to sow crops only after seed treatment and ensure there is no moisture in the soil at the time of sowing.Jain said 80% of diseases in the area occur due to not treating seeds and also advised farmers to adopt crop rotation, as continuously sowing the same type of crop in the same field increases pest and disease incidence and reduces crop yield.