Current situation of rice production in Portugal and the main diseases that occur

Abstract. Rice production is still a profitable activity for the Portuguese rice growers. Nevertheless, given the new environmental challenges, it competitiveness would require the use of modern means of production. First of all, it is important to know the present status of the Portuguese rice growing activity. Our purpose is to present a review of the production technology in Portugal and the phytopathological problems involved. We try to show that rice blast (M a g n a p o r t h e g r i s e a [Hebert] Barr) and stem rot (M a g n a p o r t h e s a l v i n i i [Catt.] Krause & Webster) are the most serious rice diseases. Other pathogens are mentioned, namely the fungi C o c h l i o b u l u s m y i a b e a n u s (Ito & Kur) Drechsler ex Dastur, Rhizoctonia oryzae sativa (Sawada) Mordue and Gibberella fujikuroi (Saw) Wollenw, the nematode Hirschmanniella oryzae (Breda de Haan) Luc & Godoy, and the bacterium Pseudomonas avenae Manns. Finally, “brança” is discussed as the most important physiological rice disease in Portugal.