Incidence and severely of rice diseases in six provinces of Papua New Guinea.

Abstract

A survey was conducted in April 2005 in nine rice growing districts covering six provinces of Papua New Guinea to determine the prevalence and status of different diseases. Eleven diseases with varying severity levels were observed with highest number of diseases in the Morobe Province followed by Eastern Highlands and East Sepik. Brown spot and sheath rot, the two seed borne diseases were consistently present in all the rice growing areas with moderate to high level of severity Tai Chung Sen 10 (TCS 10) was the predominant rice variety grown by the farmers.