CONTENTS

DISEASES
1. Rice Yellow Mottle Virus (RYMV)
2. Rice Blast
3. Brown spot
RICE DISEASES & INSECTS 4. Sheath Blight
5. Sheath rot
6. Leaf scald
7. False smut
8. Kernel smut
9. Grain rot
10. Alike with Disease symptoms on rice
INSECTS
1. Stalked‐eyed flies
2. African Rice Gall Midge
3. Caseworm
4. Rice hispa
5. Froghopper or Spittlebugs
6. Stem borers
7. Rice leaf folder
Tatsushi TSUBOI 8. Rice mealy bug
Rice Technical Advisor 9. Stink bug and Rice bug
Promotion of Rice Development (PRiDe) Project 10. Termite

DISEASES Damage of the RYMV

. Plants infected at early stages are more severely damaged than those that
are infected later.
1. Rice Yellow Mottle Virus (RYMV)
RYMV is known only in Africa and one of the most damaging diseases of rice in . Plants infected before maximum tillering stage show incomplete panicle
Africa. emergence and have unfilled grains.
. Plants infected at later stage (older than 70 days) show no significant yield
loss.
Symptoms:
・ Stunting of rice plants if
infected at early stage.
・ Reduced tiller number.
・ Yellowing and mottling of
leaves.
・ Infected plants are easily
attacked by other diseases
such as brown spot.

Transmission of RYMV
Control of RYMV
. RYMV is transmitted by a
. There are no practical ways (no chemicals) of curing a plant after it becomes
vector and also
infected.
mechanically.
. The only way to control RYMV is to prevent the rice plant from becoming
. Five chrysomelids are
infected.
known as vector insects.
. RYMV is not transmitted
by the rice seed. Control Methods
・ Resistant varieties: Planting resistant varieties is the cheapest and the most
effective way of controlling RYMV. Resistant varieties: NERICA 4, NERICA 6
and WITA 9
・ Control of vectors: It is difficult to control virus vectors with insecticides.
Vector: Dicladispa viridicyanae Even low vector populations can cause RYMV infection.
・ Eliminating sources of virus: Rogue (remove) infected rice plants from the
Hosts of the virus rice field. Roguing is successful when only a low percentage of plants are
. Rice plant, wild rice and ratooning stubble are the hosts of the virus. infected. Prevent ratoon growth, which is the main source of RYMV.
2. Rice Blast Magnaporthe grisea (Pyricularia oryzae) Disease cycle:
It is one of the most destructive diseases of rice. Airborne spores called conidia land on leaves.
↓
Symptoms: The spores germinate and the fungus penetrates the leaf surface.
The fungus produces spots or lesions on leaves, nodes, and panicles and grains. ↓
The spots are elongated and pointed at each end. The fungus grows and produces leaf spots after 4‐5 days.
↓
The spores are released by dew or rain and are carried in the air to other plants.

Damage of blast:
In severe infections, yields may be reduced by 50 %.
Leaf blast Upland rice is more severely damaged than lowland rice.

Neck blast → Empty grains

Control:
Planting resistant varieties is the most economical way of controlling this
Node blast
disease. Avoid excess nitrogen fertilizer.
There are several fungicides that effectively control blast but for economic
reason, these are not used in the tropics.
Neck blast

3. Brown spot Cochliobolus miyabeanus 4. Sheath Blight Thanatephorus cucumeris

The disease is common in soils that are poorly drained or deficient in nutrients.
Severity of the disease depends on cultivation, land preparation, varieties, crop
Symptoms: management, etc.
・ The symptoms are brown spots on the leaf and grain.
・ Seedling blight may occur in seedling grown from infected seeds. Symptoms:
・ Sheath blight causes spots on the leaf
sheath.
・ High temperature and humidity increase
the severity.

Disease cycle:
Sclerotia develop on lesions and drop to the
soil ↓
The fungus survives in sclerotia in the soil.
↓
Seedling stage
The sclerotia float on the water surface during
Disease cycle:
land preparation.
The disease is transmitted by the infected seeds.
↓
The sclerotia germinate and fungus penetrates
Damage of brown spot:
the plant.
It lowers grain quality and weight.
↓
Brown spot may kill up to 50 % of seedlings.
The fungus grows on the plant.
Control:
・ The most effective way of controlling brown spot is to grow plants in good
Damage of sheath blight:
soil and provide adequate fertilizer.
Many of the leaves are killed during severe infections and yields may be reduced
・ Planting a resistant variety is the most practical way of controlling.
by 20‐25 %.
・ Treating the seeds with fungicide or hot water help control the disease.

Control:
・ No variety has a high level of resistance to the disease.
・ Do not apply too much nitrogen fertilizer.
・ There are effective fungicides controlling the disease, but are economically
not recommendable.
5. Sheath rot Acrocylindrium Oryzae 6. Leaf scald Metasphaeria albescens

Symptoms: Symptoms:
・ Spots develop on the uppermost leaf sheaths enclosing panicles. The symptoms are lesions starting from leaf tip.
・ The young panicles remain in the leaf sheath or emerge partially.
・ Grains remain unfilled or are discoloured.

Disease cycle:
Disease cycle: The fungus survives on the rice straw.
・ Little is known about the life cycle of the fungus. ↓
・ The disease is usually found in plants injured by insect or diseases, The fungus penetrates lower leaves.
particularly stem borer and virus (RYMV). ↓
・ Hot humid weather favours sheath rot development. Flooding of rice induce sever occurrence of this
disease.
Damage of sheath rot:
Little is known about crop losses caused by sheath rot. Damage of leaf scald:
It lowers the filled grain ratio and grain quality.
Control:
Little is known about control of this disease. Control:
・ Avoid excess nitrogen fertilizer.
・ Nitrogen top dressing should be done at the right time.

7. False smut Claviceps virens 8. Kernel smut Tilletia barclayana

The occurrence of the disease is believed to indicate a good yield because This disease appears only on grains.
weather favourable to the development of false smut also favours good crop
production. Symptoms:
・ Grain surface is stained black. Inside of the grain is full of black powder.
Symptoms:
・ The fungus changes single grain of the panicle into velvety balls, which may
grow to a diameter of 1 cm.
・ Usually, only a few grains on
the panicle are infected and
the rest remain normal.

Disease cycle:
Disease cycle: Little is known about the life cycle of the fungus
Small infection bodies are produced on the surface of the smut ball.
↓ Damage of kernel smut:
The spores are blown in the air and infect the panicle of other plants. Usually, damage of this disease is minimal.
↓
The spores either infect the developing spikelets at the flowering stage or the
Control:
mature grain.
Usually, no control measures are necessary.
↓
Eventually the grain is replaced by a smut ball.

Damage of false smut:

・ Usually, damage of this disease is minimal.
Control:
・ Usually, no control measures are necessary.
9. Grain rot Burkholderia glumae 10. Disease like symptoms on rice

Symptoms: Herbicide injury (phytotoxicity)

・ Usually, two days after heading, spikelets loose green colour and become
whitish then finally turn to brown.

Iron toxicity

Disease cycle:
Seed transmitted disease.
Hot humid weather favours grain
rot development.
This disease is also transmitted by wind
and rain from infected panicle to near by panicles.

Damage of grain rot:

It lower grain quality and weight.

Control:
・ There is no resistant variety for this disease.
・ There are several fungicides which effectively control grain rot but for
economic reason, these are not used in the tropics.

Saline soil INSECTS

1. Stalked‐eyed flies (Diopsis thoracica)
The larvae bore and feed on plant tissue inside the rice stem causing dead heart.

Deep Transplanting

Adult Damage (dead heart)

Larva
2. African Rice Gall Midge (Oreolia oryzivora) 3. Caseworm (Paraponynx stagnalis Zelle)
・ The larva may eat the leaf tissue.
The larvae attack the growing point of the apical bud at a node and cause the
・ The insect attacks from seedling to tillering stage.
leaf sheath tissues to form a tube‐like structure called a 'silver shoot gall' or ・ Larvae make their cases from leaf.
・ The damage is not uniform because the larvae floating in their cases are
'onion shoot'.
carried to one side of the field by wind or water currents.
Rice fields planted early are less damaged than those planted late. ・ Draining the field for 4‐6 days kill larvae.
There are some resistant varieties.

4. Rice hispa
・ The larva is a leafminor starting to eat the
internal tissue from the tip to the basal
part of a leaf and makes the leaf empty as
a white gallery.
・ The adults are known as the vector of Rice
Yellow Mottle Virus (RYMV).
・ Application of Furadan 5 G can control
this insect.

(WARDA)

5. Froghopper or Spittlebugs (Cercopidae) 7. Rice leaffolder (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae)

Watafukimushi (Jap. name) The larva scrapes the leaves and folds the leaf together and scrapes inside.

Damage Larva

6. Stem borers (Pyralidae)

8. Rice mealybug (rice root mealybug, Dysmicoccus boninsis)
The larvae bore through the stem and eat
up the plant tissue resulting in a
condition called dead heart and / or
white head.
Damage(white head)→

Adult Larva
9. Stink bug and Rice bug
The bugs stay on the panicle and suck the milky juice in young panicles causing
staining of the grains hence lowering grain quality.

Stink bug Rice bug

Ants (Formicidae) Satyrid butterfly (larva)

Damaged rice
10. Termite

Aphid Scale insect Rice Weevil

January 2012