Epidemiological Studies of Bacterial Leaf Blight of Rice and its Management

Abstract

Rice is one of the most important crops in Pakistan, grown all over the world. Rice production has decreased due to susceptibility to a number of biological and abiotic factors. One of the oldest diseases is bacterial leaf blight of rice. The causative agent of the disease is Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae. In this study, seedlings of four commercially grown rice varieties were sown by following the randomized complete block design (RCBD). Four treatments were used to manage the disease and to promote the plant growth. Correlation and regression analysis was used to study the relation of BLB disease and environmental factors. It was observed that plant height increased by the application of NPK followed by Farm yard manure, boron and leaf manure. Panicle length and weight was maximum in boron treated plants while minimum in FYM. Minimum disease severity was recorded in NPK treatment followed by boron FYM and leaf manure. All the environmental variables showed significantly negative relationship with the development BLB disease. These results would be beneficial for the farming community to devise management options against BLB disease.