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Not AvailableTwenty popular rice hybrids were used to screen for rice tungro virus (RTV) disease reaction. Virulent green leafhoppers (GLH) were used as vector to introduce RTV to the rice hybrids. Virus symptoms scores were recorded at 14, 21, 34, 41 and 59 days postinoculation (DPI), which suggested that virus symptoms are greatly influenced by growth stage of plants. To confirm the presence of virus, polymerase chain reaction (PCR)‐based detection of Rice tungro bacilliform virus (RTBV) was carried out at 7, 14, 21 and 59 DPI using virus genome‐specific primers. Virus presence was observed in all the rice hybrids and check varieties, particularly at later stages of infection. This study shows that phenotyping for tungro virus resistance in rice hybrids at 21 DPI gives most reliable results based on both virus symptoms and presence of virus. Further, to assess the relative difference in population of RTBV, quantitative PCR was performed in all the genotypes at 21 DPI. Yield data were also recorded from control and virus‐infected plants to estimate yield loss percentage due to tungro disease. This study is important to understand the response of rice hybrids to tungro virus disease. Results obtained in this study emphasize that molecular detection of virus is very important to screen the rice plants accurately for tungro disease reaction.Not Availabl