BIONATURE

Forty samples of rice seeds consisting of 25 different cultivars were screened for the incidence of Pyricularia oryzae by blotter method. The result showed that about 22.8% of the samples examined were infected, though occuring in low percentages.   This low infection percentage not with standing, the significance of the blast fungus as a pathogen capable of attaining epidemic proportions ffrom inconspicuous seed-borne inoculums cannot be overlooked.  It was therefore suggested that the non-use of seeds from infected samples should facililate the check of its spread especially from infected to uninfected virgin  areas.