Alteration in the sowing time as an effective cultural management practice against kernel smut of rice

Abstract

AbstractKernel smut of rice caused by Tilletia barclayana (Bref.) Sacc. and Syd., becomes a serious disease for seed production of rice under favourable environmental conditions. The disease has been listed as objectionable disease under the Indian Minimum Seed Certification Standards. In this study, effort has been made to generate information on the most suitable time of sowing of rice in relation to minimum disease parameters of kernel smut. Ten rice cultivars viz., PR 111, PR 114, PR 116, PR 118, PR 121, PR 122, PR 124, PR 126, PR 127 and PAU 201 were sown on three different dates of sowing (28 May; 10 June; and 24 June) at an interval of 14 days during the crop season 2019 and 2020 under natural epiphytotic conditions for disease development so as to focus on the most crucial time of disease development under natural field conditions. There was a gradual decrease in disease parameters of kernel smut with delayed sowing in case of all cultivars under study except variety PR 111. Coefficient of infection reduced uniformly with the delay in sowing time in different cultivars during the two consecutive crop seasons in all the test cultivars. Test weight (1000 grain weight) of rice did not vary significantly in response to alteration in sowing time indicating no adverse effect of late planting on the seed quality.