The objectives of this work were to determine rice grain yield losses caused by blast (Pyricularia grisea) and to establish the relationships between blast severity and some yield components. Two field experiments were carried out, on cerrado soil, with and without supplementary irrigation, with upland rice cultivars (Bonança, Canastra, Caiapó and Primavera) improved for superior grain quality. Multiple regression procedure was utilized including leaf and panicle blast severities as independent variables and grain yield as dependent variable, for estimating yield losses. The leaf blast severity did not contribute to the variation in grain yield, in the experiment with supplementary irrigation. In the experiment without irrigation, the average yield loss of four cultivars, estimated on the basis of regression equation was 59.6%, considering the mean leaf and panicle blast severities of 33.6% and 49.9%, respectively. The estimated loss in biomass due to leaf blast was 28.6%. The relationship between panicle blast and percentage of empty spikelets was positive and linear, resulting in 5.0% and 43.9% loss, in experiments with and without supplementary irrigation, respectively. Panicle blast reduced 100-grain mass by 5.9% in experiment with irrigation and 47.8% without irrigation.
Oryza sativa; Magnaporthe grisea; Pyricularia grisea; chemical control; fungicides
