A field experiment was carried out in two successive years (2004 and 2005) in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the fungicides in rice seed treatment to control leaf blast. Another experiment was carried out in the laboratory to analyze the physiological and sanitary profile of treated seeds. The statistical analysis showed significant differences for the area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC). The pyroquilon and azoxystrobin treatments showed the least severity of leaf blast with the lowest AUDPC. Carboxim + thiram did not differ from the test to control leaf blast in the field, but this treatment increased seed germination (22%) compared with the other treatments and with the untreated control. In general, all treatments were efficient in reducing and/or eliminating fungi in seeds, with best results from carboxin + thiram and tricyclazole.
Magnaporthe grisea; Oryza sativa; blast disease; germination; seed health
