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[1] Potato - Bhutan
[2] Wheat and cumin - India (Gujarat)
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[1] Potato - Bhutan
Date: Wed 28 Jan 2009
Source: Association of Press Freedom Activists (APFA), Bhutan
News Service report [edited] <http://www.apfanews.com/news/?id=31333630>
Potato export decline
The potato export has dropped by 634 MT [metric tons] in 2008
compared to 2007, Food Corporation of Bhutan (FCB) statistics
says. Last year [2008], Bhutan earned [BTN] Nu 138 [million]
[approx. USD 2.8 million] from export of 20 974 MT of potatoes
but in 2007 the country had earned [BTN] Nu 231.3 million
[approx. USD 4.7 million] from export of 21 608 MT. The increase
in production in India has dropped prices in Bhutan by around 20
percent.
Moreover, a large quantity of potatoes was damaged in
Wangduephodrang, Paro, and Bumthang [districts] due to
unidentified disease.
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******
[2] Wheat and cumin - India (Gujarat)
Date: Thu 29 Jan 2009
Source: The Times of India (TNN) [edited]
<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Ahmedabad/Cloudy_weather_spells_doom_for_wheat_jeera_
crop_/articleshow/4044108.cms>
Cloudy weather spells doom for wheat, jeera [cumin] crop
Farmers are worried as the cloudy weather prevalent in the state
for the past few days spells doom for their wheat and cumin seed
crop.
Farmers in Banaskantha and Ahmedabad districts [Gujarat] are
facing the disease 'sukaro,' which has hit their wheat crop.
Generally, chilly weather is favourable for wheat production,
but this year [2008-09] that cold has been absent.
"In addition, for the past few days we are trying to control
'chitary' in wheat where the grains turn yellow and become dry.
This causes a fall in the output," says farmer Balvant Thakore
in Gandhinagar district.
Besides wheat, jeera [cumin] is also being hit. "Jeera
cultivation is highly dependent on weather. The slightest change
in weather conditions makes farmers anxious. We are likely to
lose more than 30 percent of our crop," says Valjibhai Patel, a
farmer in Surendranagar district.
According to a scientist at Anand Agriculture University, this
year [2009] when farmers sowed jeera, there was unseasonable
rain, which caused problems. "Now, farmers are tackling 'kaliyo'
and 'dholiyo' diseases in jeera. Both jeera and wheat output in
some regions will be less than anticipated as a result of this
weather," he says.
[Byline: Vijaysinh Parmar]
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[A number of potato diseases have been reported from the region,
including early and late blights and some viruses, and an
outbreak of late blight was reported from Bhutan in 2008. Any of
these diseases or a combination of several pathogens may be the
cause of the problems reported from Bhutan in item 1.
A number of diseases of wheat are known to occur in India. The
term 'sukaro' is apparently used by farmers in Gujarat for crop
wilting diseases, which are generally more likely to be due to
fungal or bacterial rather than viral pathogens. While fusarium
head blight has been reported from India previously, and
symptoms include premature drying and yellowing of kernels, it
is not clear whether this may be the disease referred to as
'chitary' in item 2.
The term 'kaliyo' has been reported as a local name for cumin
(_Cuminum cyminum_) blight caused by the fungus _Alternaria
burnsii_, which is considered one of the major diseases of this
crop. The other major diseases in India are considered to be
powdery mildew and fusarium wilt, and the local name 'dholiyo'
may possibly refer to one of these.
We would be most grateful for any information on the local names
of the wheat and cumin diseases reported above.
Maps
Bhutan:
<http://www.m-w.com/maps/images/maps/bhutan_map.gif>
and
<http://healthmap.org/promed/en?v=27.4,90.4,6>
Bhutan districts:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Districts_of_Bhutan>
India:
<http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/india/images/IndiaMap_tourism.gif>
and
<http://healthmap.org/promed/en?g=1270770&v=22.9,79.6,5>
Gujarat districts:
<http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/gujarat/gujarat.htm>
Pictures
Potato late blight, tuber symptoms:
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/2007/01/070102132649.jpg>
Fusarium head blight on wheat:
<http://www.nwroc.umn.edu/Cropping_Issues/2005/issue6/FHB_examples.jpg>
Cumin crop:
<http://www.indianetzone.com/1/images/262_cumin_plants.jpg>
Links
List of potato diseases:
<http://www.apsnet.org/online/common/names/potato.asp>
Information on potato late and early leaf blights:
<http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/plantsci/hortcrop/pp1084w.htm>
Local names of some crop diseases in Northern India:
<http://www.sristi.org/globalgian/files/green_grassroots_practices.pdf>
Fusarium head blight of small grains, fact sheet:
<http://smallgrains.psu.edu/pdf/FusariumHeadBlight.pdf>
List of wheat diseases:
<http://www.apsnet.org/online/common/names/wheat.asp>
Diseases, pests, and disorders of wheat (with pictures):
<http://cril.cimmyt.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=934>
Information on cumin cultivation and diseases in India:
<http://www.indianetzone.com/1/cumin.htm>
Cumin diseases in Gujarat:
<http://www.cababstractsplus.org/abstracts/Abstract.aspx?AcNo=19961006861>
and
<http://www.cababstractsplus.org/abstracts/Abstract.aspx?AcNo=19942306884>
Information on cumin blight:
<http://www.new.dli.ernet.in/rawdataupload/upload/insa/INSA_1/20005b7c_38.pdf>
and
<http://notulaebotanicae.ro/nbha/article/view/76/58>.
- Mod.DHA]
[see also
in the
archive:
Late blight, potato - India (02): (WB) 20090131.0435
Leaf blight, potato - Bangladesh: (KH) 20090121.0255
Late blight, potato - Nepal (BR) 20090114.0162
Late blight, potato & tomato: USA (FL), Ireland 20090109.0083
Late blight, potato - India: (PB) 20090103.0018
2008
----
Late blight, potato - Papua New Guinea (02): recovery
20081103.3454
Late blight, potato - India, Canada alert 20080815.2534
Late blight, potato - Bhutan: (TM) 20080811.2473
Undiagnosed disease, wheat - India: (UP), RFI 20080505.1532
Potato diseases - India: (West Bengal) 20080206.0477
Late blight, potato - Papua New Guinea: recovery 20080121.0256
Fungal diseases, potato - Bangladesh 20080107.0091
2007
----
Late blight, potato - India (02): (Punjab, W Bengal)
20071221.4099
Late blight, potato - UK: new strains 20071207.3939
Late blight, potato - India: (Punjab), alert 20071116.3715
Late blight, potato - India, UK 20070509.1491
2006
----
Late blight, potato - India (Kashmir) 20060424.1200
Late blight, potato - USA (AK), Bangladesh 20060324.0911
2005
----
Leaf rust, wheat, resistance change - India 20051201.3462
Wheat diseases - India 20050615.1683
2003
----
Late blight, potato - Papua New Guinea 20030306.0554]
