Category Crop Diseases

Environmental hazards of pesticides

ABOUT 25 million agricultural workers in developing countries suffer from pesticide poisoning each year that includes a significant number of women, says the World Health Organization (WHO). Most of the applied pesticides in these countries have been classified by the…

Cotton crop hit by rain and pests

TOWARDS the close of the third week of this month, the Punjab agriculture minister was reported to have directed the Extension and Pest Warning Wing officials to be, “alert and remain present in the fields to have a close watch…

Locust weed in riverine belt

Calotropis (Calotrops procera) is a common weed in Katcho area (riverine belt) of District Khairpur. This weed plant, is locally known as the Akh. It belongs to the Asclepiadaceae family which includes 280 genera and 2000 species of world wide…

Boll worm problem in Sindh

In Sindh the wheat production target of 2.256 million tons has been fixed for 2004-2005. The projected 45 to 50 per cent water shortage and the delayed removal of cotton crop from fields have given rise to apprehensions that the…

Sheesham’ disease stages a comeback

TAHLI (Sheesham/ Dalbergia Sissoo) — a high quality broad leaf, dark brown tree about 30 to 45 feet tall — has spread to almost every area located at 120m to 1,250m above the sea level owing to the environment of…

Damage to peach crop in Swat likely

Thousands of tons of peach crop is feared to be wasted in the Malakand division this season again as mass exodus of people continues from the area after the launch of military operation ‘Rah-i-Haq-II’ for flashing out Taliban. The Pakistan…

Combating rust in wheat

RUSTS are fungal diseases of plants called Puccinia (family Puccinaceae). These are most destructive diseases worldwide and have the ability to destroy the entire wheat crop. They have the ability to form new races that can attack previously resistant cultivars,…