The last opportunity to address seedling disease and nematode problems are the day you plant. Estimates of planting intentions in Arkansas have exceeded the one million acre mark for 2001. For additional information contact your local county Extension agent . Although seed treatments are generally inexpensive, they are not recommended in every situation. Fungicide seed treatments are generally recommended for early planted rice, clay soils, reduced tillage, or other fields that have a history of poor seedling emergence.
Most fungicides are specific for certain groups of fungi that cause seedling diseases.
Therefore, the presence of a fungicide does not guarantee that seedling diseases will not be present, nor that stand loss will not occur due to seedling diseases. Two basic types of fungi that must be present are Pythium sp. Pythium is controlled by products such as Apron XL or Allegiance, while Fusarium and Rhizoctonia are controlled by products such as Manzate, Dithane, Thiram, Vitavax, or Maxim. While fungicides help ensure an adequate stand density, they do not necessarily increase yields. Rice has the ability to recover some stand loss by increasing tiller production without an effect on yield.