Reaction of Rice Germplasm against Bacterial Blight Disease at Seedling Stage

Bacterial Blight (BB) caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae is one of the most devasting diseases in rice which causes significant yield loss. The present study was conducted at the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, College of Agriculture Vellanikkara, Kerala to screen rice accessions for BB response. One hundred and fifty rice genotypes along with resistant and susceptible checks were assessed for BB at the seedling stage using the artificial inoculation method and were scored based on IRRI, SES, 2014. Among the 150 rice genotypes screened, 5 genotypes scored resistant (R), 26 moderately resistant (MR), 85 moderately susceptible (MS), and 34 susceptible (S) reaction to BB incidence. Among the tested genotypes, Karuthamodan (1.22%), Pallipuram Pokkali (1.53%), and Tulasi (5.25%) showed minimum disease leaf area percentage for the disease incidence while IET 18318 Sel 2 (40.27%), Japan violet (37.03%), and Erunazhi (35.85%), showed maximum disease leaf area percentage. These results revealed varied disease responses to Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae among the rice accessions. The resistant genotypes identified in the study can be used in future breeding programs to develop BB resistant rice varieties thereby enhancing rice production.