Author(s)

Israr Arshad¹, Amer Rasul¹, Syed Ismat Hussain¹, Hafiz Muhammad Usman Aslam^2,3, Khizar Hayat^1*, Malik Najam Ul Hassan¹, Sidra Muqeet^1*,   Amina⁴, Yasir Umar¹, Shabab Nasir⁵, Anum Tehseen⁶

¹Directorate of Pest Warning & Quality Control of Pesticides, Punjab, Pakistan.
²Department of Plant Pathology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
³Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Iowa State University, USA.
⁴Horticultural Research Institute, Ayub Agricultural Research Institute (AARI), Faisalabad, Pakistan.
⁵Department of Zoology, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
⁶Institute of Agriculture & Resource Economics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.

Wheat [Triticum aestivum L. (Poaceae)] is the staple diet of people in Pakistan. It is attacked by many types of pests. Therefore the purpose of this study was to assess the impact of climate change on the ecology and epidemiology of various wheat pests in Punjab, Pakistan. Results indicate that maximum weeds hot spots 242 (5.98%) Phalaris minor, 45 (1.18%) wild oat and 203 (5.01%) broad leaf weeds were noted in 2015. Aphid 31 (0.86%) hot spots were recorded in 2016 while maximum army worm 13 (0.26%) hot spots were noted in 2017. Maximum 70 (1.73%) spots of yellow rust and 85 (2.10%) hot spots of brown rust were observed during 2015 while 84 (4.16%) spots of loose smut were observed during 2017. ANOVA shows that years have no significant difference (P > 0.05) but weeks have significant effect on occurrence of these pest incidences except brown rust. But regression ANOVA was significant (P ≤ 0.05) and regression models equations have been developed on the bases of recorded data. Pest incidence was taken as dependent variable Y and weather factors i.e. minimum temperature as X₁, maximum temperature as X₂, relative humidity as X₃ and rain fall as X₄ were taken as independent variables. This study will help in recommendations for moving forward aiming at integration of biology of rust and smut diseases of wheat with changing climate for development of resistant varieties for resilient and durable management of these pathogens.

Climate Change, Wheat, Weeds, Insect Pest, Disease Ecology

Arshad, I. , Rasul, A. , Hussain, S. , Aslam, H. , Hayat, K. , Hassan, M. , Muqeet, S. , Amina,  . , Umar, Y. , Nasir, S. and Tehseen, A. (2019) Impact of Climate Change on Epidemiology of Various Pests of Wheat Crop in Punjab Pakistan. American Journal of Plant Sciences, 10, 236-247. doi: 10.4236/ajps.2019.101018.