Regional and varietal differences in prevalence and incidence levels of Bipolaris species in Brazilian rice seedlots

A total of 722 rice seed lots were collected at six production regions of Rio Grande do Sul state during three consecutive seasons (2009/10 to 2011/12). For each seed lot, 200 seeds were assessed for the presence of Bipolaris spp. using a standard seed health blotter test. Results showed that B. oryzae and B. cynodontis were found in 62.5% and 10.4% of the seed lots, respectively. Overall mean incidence of B. oryzae and B. cynodontis were 0.5% and 0.06%, respectively. For the two most sampled varieties (75% of the seed lots), IRGA 424 and Puitá INTA CL, mean incidence levels were highest and ...