Survey and Molecular Identification of Tilletia indica for Promotion of International Trade of Wheat from Meerut Division India in the Regime of WTO-SPS Agreement

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is the staple food crop of millions of people in the world. India has the maximum wheat production after China. It contains 21 and 20 percent of the protein and food calories, respectively, to the human diet of the 94 developing countries of more than 4.5 billion people. In the international market, Indian wheat is preferred due to its high gluten content and golden-brown grains. Among all the diseases of wheat, Karnal Bunt (KB) or partial bunt incited by Tilletia indica (Mitra), earlier named Neovossia indica (Mitra), Mundkur is presumed to be native of Indian origin. Karnal bunt is an important wheat disease with implications for wheat grain quality and inflicts changes in the chemical composition of infected grains. Karnal bunt is also a disease of quarantine importance, and it affects the international trade of wheat and the movement of germplasm. Infection occurs in only a few seeds per head and not all heads on a single plant. Infected grains are partially or completely converted into bunt sori. On germination, teliospores produce secondary allantoid sporidia, which, on fusion, establish successful infection of the ovary of spike. Contamination levels of more than 0.5% prohibit export/ import of wheat; 1% affect quality and palatability due to a displeasing fishy odor and black discoloration, thus bringing down its quality and palatability. More than 3% of infected seeds in a wheat lot render it completely unfit for human consumption, leading to economic losses to the producer countries. To know the status of disease, a post-harvest survey was conducted during 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 in 45 blocks of Meerut division. Samples collected from 30 blocks were found to be positive, while the remaining 15 blocks were observed to be negative. All presumptive samples of four districts (Meerut, Bulandshahar, Hapur and Baghpat) were found to be positive during molecular identification (RT-PCR and PCR amplification).