A Survey of Rice Diseases in Cameroon. M. P. Jones, Rice Breeders, IRA/NCRE/USAID/IITA, B.P. 44, Dschang, Cameroon. F. Jeutong, and J. Tchatchoua. Rice Breeders, and Plant Pathologist, IRA/NCRE/USAID/IITA, B.P. 44, Dschang, Cameroon. Plant Dis. 77:133-136. Accepted for publication 23 July 1991. Copyright 1993 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-77-0133.

Rice diseases in experimental plots throughout the major rice-growing areas of Cameroon were surveyed from July of 1988 through May of 1989. The diseases found are discussed, including some estimation of their economic importance. Generally, disease severity was less pronounced under irrigated conditions than in the uplands and varied remarkably among the different rice-growing areas. The relatively low occurrence of diseases in the extreme north was probably a result of high soil fertility or higher wind velocities and lower humidity than in the other areas. In the western highlands, the climate was more conducive to disease. For example, the Mbo Plain location was found to be suitable for screening for resistance to rice blast (caused by Magnaporthe grisea), and the Ndop plain location was suitable for screening for resistance to sheath rot (caused by Sarocladium oryzae) and glume discoloration (caused by several pathogenic fungi including Cochliobolus miyabeanus).