Potential Impact of Sheath Blight on Yield and Milling Quality of Short-Statured Rice Lines in the Southern United States. M. A. Marchetti, Research Plant Pathologist, USDA, ARS, Texas A&M University Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Beaumont 77706. Plant Dis. 67:162-165. Accepted for publication 9 July 1982. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1983. DOI: 10.1094/PD-67-162.

Comparative studies of sheath blight caused by Rhizoctonia solani in standard height and semidwarf U.S. rice (Oryza sativa) lines showed that semidwarf lines sustained more than double the reductions in both yield and milling quality sustained by closely related standard height lines. The disease developed more extensively in the semidwarfs because of the shorter distance between the waterline—the usual infection court—and the panicles. Sheath blight also severely reduced the amount of retillering and, consequently, the yield potential of the ratoon crop.