Qualitative and Quantitative of Resistance of Sarawak Rain-fed Lowland Rice to Pyricularia oryzae

Local rice production is threatened by rice blast disease, caused by the fungus, Pyricularia oryzae. Yield can be greatly reduced by this disease as it can attack all the aerial parts of rice. Use of resistant cultivar can control the disease effectively and can be produced from resistant breeding. Knowledge on fungus population in Sarawak and resistant local rice varieties are important for resistant breeding. Disease samples were collected from selected paddy fields in Sarawak. B2PG and 76 isolates have been collected and their morphology variations have been documented. B2PG is used for resistant screening of six selected Sarawak lowland rainfed rice varieties, including Padi Bubuk, Padi Semanggang, Padi Entangor, Padi Perintah, Padi Hitam and Padi Rendah. Only Padi Hitam and Padi Entangor are found to be susceptible towards B2PG isolate of P. oryzae. Resistant varieties might carry one or more R genes which can be utilised in breeding strategies such as gene pyrimading