Bakanae of Rice: A Serious Disease in Punjab

Abstract

Rice is being major staple food which is feeding more than 60% of world’s total population. It is cultivated over 163.2 million hectares globally, with an average production of 4.6 tons per hectare by the year 2015 and it is forecasted that global paddy production will be increased by 0.9 % by the year 2017 [FAO, 2015]. In India, the total area under rice cultivation was 43mha with the total production of 104.32 million tons during the year 2016-17. The expected production during the year 2016-17 was 109.15 million tons [Directorate of Economics and statistics, Commodity profile for rice, 2017]. It has been forecasted that, India needs to produce 113.3 mt rice to feed the increasing population by the year 2021 (Kumar, 2009). This demand will have to be supplied from less land, with less water, less labor and fewer chemicals. Rice being affected by various insects, pests, fungi, bacteria and nematodes are the major factors behind the yield instability. Roughly International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 8 Number 05 (2019) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com