Lecture I

DISEASES OF RICE
Rice Blast
Blast disease of rice is noticed in all rice growing areas and is considered the most serious
disease because of its devastating nature, widespread distribution and existence of several
physiological races of the causal organism. This disease was reported in rice seedlings as early as
1637 from China. At that time, heat was ascribed to be the cause of the disease and was hence
called ‘rice fever disease”. Metcalf (1907) from South Carolina, USA was the first to name this
disease ‘blast’. According to Padmanabhan (1965) blast was first recorded in India when a
devastating epidemic occurred in 1913 in the Tanjore delta area of erstwhile Madras State.
Maximum losses due to blast occur when seedlings or plants are killed at tillering stage or when
panicles are infected. In India, 75% loss of grain occurred in 1950 in susceptible cultivars while,
in general, 40-50% yield loss has been reported due to epidemics in different rice growing areas of
the world. The time of infection, part of the plant infected, variety of plant, environmental factors
etc. influence disease severity and eventually yield loss.
Symptoms
The disease sets in at any growth stage of rice plant although it is more frequent in the
nursery and flowering stages. Symptoms are noticed generally on leaves, nodes, panicles and
grains, and rarely on leaf sheath.
Symptoms on leaf known as ‘leaf blast’ appear as minute brown specks at first, which
enlarge to form spindle shaped lesions with pointed ends in susceptible cultivars. The centre of
the spot is grey or white with brown on reddish brown margin and with conspicuous yellow halo
around the spots. Heavily infected leaves soon become blighted and die. Severe infection in the
nursery stage causes death of seedlings and is known as ‘Nursery blast’. Badly affected nurseries
can be recognized from a distance by their brownish, scorched appearance.
Infection can also occur on nodes. The sheath pulvillus rots and turns black which
separates from the leaf on drying. The connected node also turns black and rots which leads to
death of the parts above the node. This is the ‘node blast’ phase of the disease.
The most destructive phase of the disease is when the pathogen infects panicles. This
stage is called ‘neck rot’, ‘neck blast’, ‘broken neck’ or ‘panicle blast’. The symptom is
characterized by the appearance of black or greyish brown lesions at the base of the panicle
(neck). The infected tissue shrivels and turns black. This weakens the tissue and panicles often
break at the neck region and hang down. If the symptoms occur at the time of panicle emergence,
entire grains of the panicle turn chaffy. The attack at later stages causes partly filled grains.
Brown to black spots are also sometimes seen on the infected glumes.

Figure 1 leaf blast

Figure 3 node blast

Pathogen Figure 2 neck blast

Pyricularia oryzae - Anamorph

Magnaporthe grisea - Teleomorph
Mycelium is septate, branched and hyaline to olivaceous. Conidiophores arise singly or in
fascicles, simple, rarely branched and slightly thickened at the base, Conidia are borne
sympodially, pyriform to obclavate, hyaline to pale olive, usually 2-septate, rarely 1 or 3 septate,
apex narrow, base rounded with a basal appendage or hilum.
M.grisea produce perithecia, which are black and provided with long hairy necks.
Interascal tissue is made of paraphyses, which are thin walled and pointed. Asci are cylindrical,
persistent and thick with a large apical pore surrounded by one or more apical rings. Ascospores
are pigmented.
Epidemiology
The pathogen is seed borne. Conidia of the fungus may be present on the seed surface and
as resting mycelium in the tissues of embryo, endosperm, bran layers and glumes, and also
between the glumes and the kernel. The pathogen can also survive on the infected straw and
stubbles. Weed plants such as Panicum repens, Digitaria marginata, Brachiaria mutica, etc.
serve as collateral hosts.
The fungal mycelium carried through seeds or stubbles in soil serve as primary inoculum
and for long distance spread. Secondary spread of inoculum is by wind borne conidia or the
conidia carried through irrigation water.
Most of the conidia are formed during night and released between 2 and 6 am. Hence, this
is also called ‘Night fungus’ and the blast disease is called ‘Night queen disease’. A temperature
between 25°C and 27°C and RH regime of 86 to 97% are found to be optimum for spore
discharge. Similarly, a night temperature of 20°C alternating with day temperature of 30-35°C
increases the susceptibility of plants to infection. At night temperatures above 26°C, even
susceptible varieties escape infection
Management
Management of the disease depends on the use of resistant varieties, pathogen free seed,
seed treatment with fungicides, judicious use of fertilizers and destruction of collateral host and
clean cultivation.
• Remove and destroy the weed hosts in the field bunds and channels.
• Avoid closer spacing in the main field.
• Avoid excessive use of nitrogenous fertilizer.
• Grow varieties resistant to blast in endemic areas:
 Short duration: Swarnaprabha , Swarnamodan, Kanchana, Nakom, Onam
 Medium duration: Bharathy, Aiswarya, Athira, Jaya, IR8
Long duration: Dhanya, Neeraja, IR20.
• Spray fungicides a soon as the disease is observed – Ediphenphos (Hinosan 250ml) or
Iprobenphos (Kitazin 500 ml/ha) or Carbendazim (Bavistin)250 g, or Tricyclazole 400 g
or mancozeb (2 kg /ha)g/ha or Aureofungin sol 50 g/ ha. One foliar spray at heading
stage to protect from neck blast
• Seeds should be collected from disease free areas
• Treat seeds with any one of the seed dressing fungicides viz., Captan or Thiram (Thiride)
or Carbendazin (Bavistin) or Carboxin (Vitavax) or Tricyclazole (Beam)@ 2 g/kg seed.
• Protect nursery by spraying Carbendazim 25 g or Ediphenphos (Hinosan) 25 ml for 8 cents
• Regulate application of nitrogenous fertilizers in disease prone areas
• Bio-control agents: Seed treatment Pseudomonas fluorescence @ 20 g/kg seed. Root dip
50g/l, soil incorporation @ 2-2.5 kg /ha or as foliar spray at 45 days crop growth @ 20 g/L

Brown leaf spot

Brown spot disease of rice was one of the causes for the Bengal famine of 1942 in India.
The disease is widespread in all rice growing countries of Asia, America and Africa. The disease
has been estimated to cause crop loss of 12-43%, 12-30% loss in grain weight and 18-22% loss in
filled grains.
Symptoms
The most prominent symptoms of the disease are found on leaves and glumes. But
symptoms are also noticed on coleoptile, leaf sheaths, and panicle branches and rarely on roots of
young seedlings and stems. Typical spots are small, oval or circular in shape and are dark brown
or purplish in colour. The spots are surrounded by yellow halo. Under congenial conditions,
conidiophores and conidia develop in the spots. Numerous such spots occurring on leaves
ultimately result in withering. Glumes also show similar dark brown spots. The grains, the
endosperm also shows blackening. The entire panicle may also be affected. The infected seed on
germination show black spots on the coleoptile and cause death of the seedlings (seedling blight).

Figure 4 leaf symptom Figure 5 symptom on grains

Pathogen
Bipolaris oryzae (Syn. Drechslera oryzae) - Anamorph
Cochliobolus miyabeanus - Teleomorph
The anamorph stage of the fungus produces fluffy, aerial, dark greenish gray cottony
mycelium. The conidiophores are solitary or in small groups and olivaceous in colour. Conidia
are olivaceous brown, usually curved, broader at the middle or just above the middle and taper to
rounded ends. The teleomorph produces perithecia that are globose to depressed, globose, with
the outer wall dark yellowish brown and pseudoparenchymatous, The asci are cylindrical to
fusiform. The ascospores are filamentous or long cylindrical, hyaline or pale olive green and
coiled together.
Epidemiology
The fungus survives in the seed and infected plant parts. The mycelium is present on seed
coat, pericarp, and glumes and sometimes in the endosperm. Infected grains show brown stains
and have large number of conidiophores and conidia. Apparently healthy grains from infected
plants also carry inoculum. The fungus can survive in seed for more than 4 years. However,
under warm humid conditions, the conidia cannot live long, yet it can carry the pathogen from one
cropping season to the next. Seed thus serves as the primary source of inoculum. Germination of
the infected seeds is reduced to 10-30%. Seedlings developing from such seeds may develop root
and shoot decay and die before maturity.
The pathogen also survives as mycelium and conidia in infected crop debris in soil.
Volunteer rice plants and graminaceous weeds in the rice bunds also help in survival of the
fungus.
 The conidia produced on the infected plant parts are carried by wind and contribute to the
secondary spread of the disease.
Temperature of 25-30o C is optimum for disease development. RH of more than 89% is
required for successful infection. However, dry soil conditions predispose plants to disease more
than wet soil. High atmospheric humidity and low soil moisture inhibit the absorption of Si and K
and reduce the SiO2 and K2O content of leaves, and hence increase the susceptibility of brown
spot. Shaded conditions enhance disease development.
Management
1. Use certified and healthy seed
2. Use resistant varieties such as Kanchana, Remya, IR-36 etc
3. Seed treatment is effective in managing seedling blight. This can be done with
carbendazim (1g/kg seed), copper oxychloride (2-4g/kg seed) or mancozeb (2-4g/kg
seed). Treating the seeds in hot water at 52°C for 10 minutes is also effective. Seed
infection in the field can be reduced by spraying fentin acetate and mancozeb in the
proportion 1:5 at 0.2% on the crop at heading and grain maturation stage.
4. Poor nutrient status of the soil can be corrected by balanced application of fertilizers,
good water management etc.
5. Application of soil amendments such as neem cake 10 T/ ha can help in reducing
disease severity.
Narrow brown leaf spot
Symptoms
The disease affects all the aerial parts of the plants. Short, linear brown lesions are noticed
on leaves, leaf sheaths, glumes etc. Size and colour of the lesion depend on the resistance and
susceptibility of the cultivars.
Pathogen
Cercospora janseana (Syn.Cercospora oryzae) - Anamorph
Sphaerulina oryzina - Teleomorph
The conidia are cylindrical to clavate or catenulate, 3-10 septate.
The teleomorph produces perithecia, which are scattered or gregarious, globose or subglobose and
black in colour. Asci are cylindrical or club-shaped, round at the top. Ascospores are spindle
shaped, straight or slightly curved 3 septate hyaline.
Epidemiology
The pathogen carried externally on seed serves as the primary inoculum. The wind borne
conidia produced from lesions act as secondary inoculum and help to spread the disease in a
standing crop.
Management
Same as in Brown leaf spot.
Leaf scald
Symptoms
Leaf scald is seen on mature leaves as zonate lesions, which start as diamond shaped water
soaked areas at the tips and extend downwards. In the affected areas, dark brown serrate or
dentate markings are visible. Varieties with broad leaves are more susceptible than those with
narrow leaves.
Pathogen
Microdochium oryzae (Syn. Rhynchosporium oryzae) - Anamorph
Monographiella albescens - Teleomorph
The fungus produces white to buff coloured growth. Mycelium is septate, branched and
light yellow in colour. Conidia are sickle shaped, single celled when young, and two-celled when
mature, occasionally 2-3 septate.
Epidemiology
The pathogen is externally and occasionally internally seed borne. Infected seeds on
germination produce disease in seedlings.
Management
Fungicidal seed treatment with mancozeb (0.15%) + benomyl (0.15%) has been found
effective in eradicating the pathogen from seed.