Bacterial leaf blight threatens rice fields in Dong Nai

(ĐN)- Rice farmers in Long Khanh town and Xuan Loc district of Dong Nai have faced heavy losses as the crop has been affected by bacterial leaf blight.

Illustrative image (Source:Internet)

The disease has spread to 285 hectares of rice in the province so far this year, an increase of 260 hectares when compared to the same period last year, according to the Provincial Plant Protection Department.

The Provincial Plant Protection Department urged local farmers to spray chemicals on affected rice fields to prevent the spread of the disease.

Bacterial leaf blight (BB), caused by the vascular pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, has become one of the most devastating diseases of rice because of the extensive cultivation of nitrogen-responsive modern rice cultivars. Plants are infected at the maximum tillering stage, resulting in a yield reduction from 20 to 40%. Early BB infection also causes severe yield reduction up to 50%.

Reported by K.G