Major Pests & Damage
Sheath Blight
(Rhizoctonia solani)
Symptoms are usually observed from tillering to milk stage in a rice crop and include the following: oval or ellipsoidal greenish gray lesions, usually 1-3 cm long, on the leaf sheath, initially just above the soil or water level in the case of conventionally flooded rice.
Bacterial Leaf Blight
(Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae)
On older plants, lesions usually develop as water-soaked to yellow-orange stripes on leaf blades or leaf tips or on mechanically injured parts of leaves. Lesions have a wavy margin and progress toward the leaf base. On young lesions, bacterial ooze resembling a milky dew drop can be observed early in the morning.
Leaf spot
(Cochliobolus miyabeanus)
It can cause leaves to wilt. On resistant varieties, the lesions are brown and pinhead-sized. Lesions on leaf sheaths are similar to those on the leaves. Infected glumes and panicle branches have dark brown to black oval spots or discoloration on the entire surface.
White Tip Nematodes
(Aphelenchoides besseyi)
Damage from this nematode may be recognized from tattered, string-white tips on infested leaf blades. These leaf tips can turn brown or black over time. Plants infected with this nematode may be stunted, sometimes lodge, and produce small panicles with reduced spikelets.
