DISEASE CONTROL

DISEASE CONTROL

Leaf blast

Leaf Blast is a fungal disease of economic importance to rice.

Symptoms

• Tiny bluish specks that enlarge into brown spots –with ashy gray centers and dark brown rims
• The brown spots combine to give the leaf a brown appearance
• There is blackish lesion on the neck of panicle, affected panicles wither and spikelet, and will not fill.

Control measures

Follow good crop husbandry practices including:

• Burn all rice straws and trash after harvest
• Clear and burn all vegetation along bunds, drains and channels
• Plant rice at recommended spacing
• Use certified seed
• Use fungicides to manage the disease
• Avoid applying excessive nitrogen that makes the plant to be bushy and attracts fungal growth in the field.