Reaction of Cold-tolerant Adapted Rice Cultivars to Seedling Disease Caused by Pythium Species

Stand problems consistently cause significant production losses and management problems in Arkansas rice fields. Previous research, funded by the Rice Research and Promotion Board, identified the role of environmental factors and soilborne plant pathogens in limiting rice stand establishment, and had the goal of determining the conditions where soilborne pathogens, especially Pythium species, play an important role in stand establishment and developing control strategies for reducing seedling disease losses. Current research is focusing on the selection of coldtolerant rice genotypes with increased resistance to Pythium damping-off at lower planting temperatures. Genotypes were found which had greater resistance to seedling disease caused by Pythium spp. It appears that cold-tolerant genotypes differ in resistance to Pythium diseases and that this character will need to be screened for separately as cold-tolerant cultivars are developed.