Rice blast

Symptoms:

Sometimes this disease is referred as Pyrricularia blight or rotten neck, generally distributed wherever rice is grown. Small spots appear on leaves, nodes, panicles and grains and some times on leaf sheaths. The spots begin as small, water-soaked, whitish, greyish or bluish dots. These spots rapidly increase and become grey in centre. Brown to black spots also develop on inflorescence and glumes. In later stages, the diseased heads appear blasted and whitish in colour. Grain development is affected and the panicles droop.

Perpetuation:

The disease perpetuates through the diseased plant debris lying in the field, seed and wild grasses.

Control:

1) Burn and destroy diseased plant debris and stubble;

2) Early planting;

3) Cultivation of resistant varieties;

4) Use of healthy seed;

5) Dusting the seed with any one of the organic mercurial seed dressing fungicides;

6) Spray the crop with organo-mercurials;

7) Avoid excessive depth application of irrigation water;

8) Avoid excessive plant population and;

9) Control grasses and other weeds.