Rice blast disease

Rice blast disease is a disease of rice plants caused by the fungus Pyricularia grisea. It is one of the main challenges faced by the California rice industry, especially in the top rice-producing region in the state, the Sacramento Valley. Yield losses can reach 50% in severely affected fields. The fungus damages the rice by disintegrating the kernel or by causing the plants to produce grain that is stunted in size.

Rice blast is currently controlled with such methods as destruction of crop residues, use of pathogen-free seed rice, increasing movement of water through rice fields to wash fungus away, and use of fungicides and resistant cultivars of rice.