Abstract
Rice crops grown under irrigated conditions were inoculated withPyricularia oryzae during early growth stages to study the effect of leaf blast on yield formation. The inoculations led to severe epidemics of leaf blast around maximum tillering, characterized by the presence of typical blast lesions and an accelerated senescence of heavily infested leaf tissue. Leaf blast led to a prolonged tillering and a delay in flowering and maturity.
Crop growth rate and leaf area formation declined sharply during establishment of the disease and continued to be reduced till maturity. This resulted in a marked reduction of total dry matter production and grain yield. Dry matter distribution was not affected. Leaf blast reduced spikelet number, 1000 grain weight, and the fraction filled grains. From this last observation it was concluded that the reduction in grain yield was exclusively source determined.
Nitrogen uptake of the inoculated crops before flowering was reduced compared to the N uptake of the control crop, but shoot N content of the inoculated crops at flowering was higher. Uptake of nitrogen after flowering was negligible in both healthy and inoculated crops. Redistribution from vegetative tissue was therefore the main source of N for grain growth. The higher N content of the shoot organs in the inoculated crops during ripening led to the conclusion that the reduced N uptake was not responsible for the yield reduction observed. Consequently, the reduction in grain yield was solely determined by a reduced carbohydrate supply.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akita, S., Parao, F.T. & Coronel, V.P., 1987. Physiological response of rice to light and to nitrogen. In: Weather and Rice. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, Philippines. p. 82–91.
Anderson, A.L., Henry, B.W. & Tullis, E.C., 1947. Factors affecting infectivity, spread and persistence ofPyricularia oryzae Cav. Phytopathology 37: 94–110.
Bastiaans, L., 1991. Ratio between virtual and visual lesion size as a measure to describe reduction in leaf photosynthesis due to leaf blast. Phytopathology 81: 611–615.
Bastiaans, L., 1993a. Effects of leaf blast on photosynthesis of rice. 1. Leaf photosynthesis. Netherlands Journal of Plant Pathology 99: 197–203.
Bastiaans, L., 1993b. Effects of leaf blast on growth and production of a rice crop. 2. Analysis of the reduction in dry matter production, using two models with different complexity. Netherlands Journal of Plant Pathology 99, Supplement 3: (in press).
Bastiaans, L. & Kropff, M.J., 1993. Effects of leaf blast on photosynthesis of rice. 2. Canopy photosynthesis. Netherlands Journal of Plant Pathology 99: 205–217.
Blackman, V.H., 1919. The compound interest law and plant growth. Annals of Botany 33: 353–360.
Cook, M.G. & Evans, L.T., 1983. Nutrient responses of seedlings of wild and cultivatedOryza species. Field Crops Research 6:205–218.
Evans, L.T., 1975. The physiological basis of crop yield. In: Evans, L.T. (Ed.), Crop physiology; some case histories. Cambridge University Press, London. p. 327–355.
Goto, K., 1965. Estimating losses, from rice blast in Japan. In: The rice blast disease. The Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, Maryland. p. 195–202.
Koh, Y.J., Hwang, B.K. & Chung, H.S., 1987. Adult-plant resistance of rice to leaf blast. Phytopathology 77: 232–236.
Lim, L.G. & Gaunt, R.E., 1986. The effect of powdery mildew (Erisyphe graminis f. sp.hordei) and leaf rust (Puccinia hordei) on spring barley in New Zealand. I. Epidemic development, green leaf area and yield. Plant Pathology 35:44–53.
Mackill, A.O. & Bonman, J.M., 1986. New hosts ofPyricularia oryzae. Plant Disease 70:125–127.
Matshushima, S., 1970. Crop science in rice. Fuji Publishing Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan. 379 pp.
Ou, S.H., 1985. Rice diseases. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau, Kew, Surrey, England. 380 pp.
Penning de Vries, F.W.T., Jansen, D.M., ten Berge, H.F.M. & Bakema, A., 1989. Stimulation of ecophysiological processes of growth in several annual crops. Pudoc, Wageningen, the Netherlands. 271 pp.
Penning de Vries, F.W.T., Van Keulen, H. & Alagos, J.C., 1990. Nitrogen redistribution and potential production in rice. In: Proceedings of the International Congress of Plant Physiology, New Delhi, India. Society for Plant Physiology & Biochemistry, New Delhi. p. 513–520.
Spiertz, J.H.J. & Van Keulen, H., 1980. Effects of nitrogen and water supply on growth and grain yield of wheat. Proceedings 3rd International Wheat Conference, Madrid, Spain. p. 595–610.
Torres, C.Q., 1986. Effect of plant age on the expression of resistance toPyricularia oryzae Cav. in upland rice varieties. Ph.D. thesis, University of the Philippines at Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines. 82 pp.
Tsai, W.H., 1988. Estimation of yield losses caused by leaf blast disease. Journal of Agricultural Research of China 37: 207–210.
Yeh, W.H. & Bonman, J.M., 1986. Assessment of partial resitance, toPyricularia oryzae in six rice cultivars. Plant Pathology 35: 319–323.
Yoshida, S., 1981. Fundamentals of rice crop science. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines. 269 pp.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bastiaans, L. Effects of leaf blast on growth and production of a rice crop. Netherlands Journal of Plant Pathology 99, 323–334 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01974313
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01974313