Etiology of Rice Seedling Disease in Water-Seeded Rice.

Rice seedling disease is one of major problems in water-seeded rice. This disease is known to be caused by several pathogen such as Pythium, Achlya, and Fusarium species. However, seedling disease of rice in water-seeded rice in Korea is not extensively studied. Pythium species have been isolated from Seosan, Yeoju, Icheon areas using Pythium selective media and their pathogenicity was investigated. All of the Pythium isolates showed strong pathogencity causing seedling emergence reduction in water-seeded rice. Seedling emergence was reduced to 0∼9％ at 10 days after inoculation of 23 Pythium isolates compared to 60％ of noninoculated control in a growth chamber. However, Fusarium species did not cause seedling emergence reduction in water-seeded rice. In contrast, when no water added into water agar or soil, the pathogen caused seedling rot two weeks after planting. These results indicate that Pythium species is a cause of seedling disease in water-seeded cultivation areas in Korea.