Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science
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Pertanika · Universiti Putra Malaysia Press

Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science

Official journal of Universiti Putra Malaysia for peer-reviewed research across tropical agriculture and allied agricultural sciences.

e-ISSN 2231-8542 ISSN 1511-3701
Research article

Chitosan as a Biopesticide against Rice (Oryza sativa) Fungal Pathogens, Pyricularia oryzae and Rhizoctonia solani

Mui-Yun Wong, Arthy Surendran, Nur Madhihah Saad and Farhana Burhanudin

KeywordsBiopesticide, chitosan, rice blast, sheath blight
Article content

Abstract

The antifungal potential of chitosan obtained from shellfish was studied in both in vitro and in vivoconditions against Pyricularia oryzae and Rhizoctonia solani, causal agents of the blast and sheath blight diseases in rice, respectively. A total of 100% inhibition of mycelial growth was observed on both P. oryzae and R. solani when a 4% concentration of chitosan was used in this study. A significant reduction in both disease incidence and disease severity was observed between the treated and untreated rice plants. The disease controlling efficacy of chitosan was concentration-dependent with a negative correlation. The disease reduction (DR) capacity of chitosan in this study ranged between 47-95%. Chitosan was able to reduce disease severity (DS) of blast by 85% and sheath blight by 95% while disease incidence (DI) of blast by 77% and sheath blight by 89%. The results demonstrated that chitosan extracted from shellfish has the potential to be developed as a biopesticide for sustainable control of both blast and sheath blight diseases in rice and has broad-spectrum capacity in controlling both diseases.