Prevalence of Rice False Smut in Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar

Abstract

False smut is emerging in many rice-growing regions. The disease is causing economic losses to the farmers. The fungus (Ustilaginoidea virens) produces mycotoxins which are poisonous to animals and human. In order to understand the nature of the disease, rice genotypes were surveyed at different geographical locations covering the paddy fields of Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar. The disease affected almost all rice genotypes to varying severity. The average disease incidence was 14.43% while the disease severity ranged from 0.45-60.98%. In Odisha, the most susceptible genotype was Pooja followed by Swarna and Gayatri while in Bihar, the most susceptible genotypes were Mahsuri and Moti Gold.The classification of the genotypes based on disease reactions showed seven rice genotypes with moderate resistance while 18 genotypes showed moderately susceptible reactions and four genotypes showed susceptible reactions. Majority of the rice genotypes fall under moderately susceptible reactions. False smut was one of the most important disease of rice encountered in the regions. Due to high susceptibility, Pooja may be used as susceptible check in artificial false smut disease experiments. Therefore, false smut management should be paid attention to protect the rice crop from economic losses.