Nutritional disorders of rice

Abstract

A correct diagnosis is a major step toward a cure whether you are treating horses, humans, or rice plants. When a farmer in India looks at a rice plant whose new leaves are light-colored near the midrib and whose lower leaves have brown spots and streaks, he is likely to say the field is infected with Khaira, in the Philippines a farmer looking at the same symptoms is likely to say his crop has Taya-Taya, and in Japan he may say "Akagare" (to which the expert may add, "Type li"). But plant physiologists from IRRI recently showed that these "diseases" are really nutritional disorders and that Khaira, Taya-Taya, and Akagare Type are actually the same thing: deficiency of zinc.