The Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) has issued an urgent warning on controlling blast disease in rice.

The warning says that, given the weather now prevailing across the country and the forecast for the coming week, leaf blast could appear on a large scale at the current growth stage of the rice plant, along with neck blast in some places in early-planted fields.

To protect the crop, farmers should spray a tricyclazole-group fungicide such as Trooper, Difa or Zil twice, in the afternoon, 7-10 days apart. The dose is 50 grams of the chemical mixed well in 64 litres of water for 33 decimals of land.

Farmers whose rice has not yet headed, or will head within a few days, should spray twice in the afternoon at 7-10 day intervals in the same way when the panicles emerge, whether or not neck blast has appeared.

Farmers should remember that once neck blast sets in, it cannot be controlled. Because of storms and rain, there is a chance that blast will spread widely this year. Spraying should be timed with the rain in mind, so that the chemical is not washed off straight after spraying.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.