Occurrence and Management of Bakanae disaease of Rice

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is among the three crops on which humans depend for their existence. It belongs to family Poaceae which carries true grasses. It has two domesticated species of genus Oryza i.e. Oryza sativa and oryza glaberrima. Oryza sativa is a native of tropical and sub tropical southern Asia while the other one also called African rice belongs to West Africa. Rice has emerged as a staple food in many countries of the world and that’s why, its importance is increasing day by day. Rice is involved in the culture and also the economy of many societies. Rice feeds about two billion people in the developing world. Rice production needs to be improved to an extent of 70% by the next thirty years. According to some estimates, about 800 million tons of rice has to be grown with minimum use of agrochemicals in order to sustain the requirements of increasing population.Among these diseases, bakanae or foot rot (Fusarium moniliforme prefect stage (Gibberella fujikuroi) disease has the most significant position. This disease causes both qualitative and quantitative losses to the produce with severe losses under the field conditions.