**6. Management through resistant variety**

Management of plant diseases by use of resistant cultivars is cost-effective, durable and practical strategy. Unfortunately, no progress has been made to develop or improve rice variety/cultivars resistance to false smut disease, which might be due to lack of efficient artificial inoculation method to evaluate disease resistance reliably or absence of resistant gene donor. There are few reports on identification of quantitative trait locus (QTL) in rice against false smut [28–31]. However, their incorporation or utilization to improve rice cultivars against false smut is lacking. Therefore, R-gene should be identified and incorporated into an elite variety without compromising yield and can go a long way as resistant variety.

## **7. Integrated disease management**

Integrated disease management utilizes all available resources, minimum use of chemicals and focus more on cultural practices. All possible methods are combined to manage the disease in a holistic manner because not a single method is effective enough to manage the disease. In the past few years, the disease has become a potential threat to rice cultivation and is difficult to manage by means of both fungicides and crop rotation alone or any other traditional control methods of plant diseases. Thus, an integrated method is important for successful management, especially under challenging conditions of rice production. Incorporation of resistant varieties, good cultural management tactics and use of recommended fungicides and bio-pesticides are indispensable for the management of false smut of rice.

Wenquning, which is a suspension of *Bacillus subtilis* in solution of validamycin, has been widely used in China for the management of false smut of rice [21]. However, there is limitations like the difficulty of on-time application and getting strains from the unfavorable weather around the heading dates had stalled its control efficiency and resulted in failures to control the disease. The success and sustainability of integrated disease management approach, especially with resource-poor farmers, significantly depends on their participation in helping generate locally precise methods and solutions appropriate for their particular farming systems and integrating control mechanisms that are ecologically sound and readily available to them. Future, research is required for integrated disease management in different locations wherever, false smut is severe and threatening. Such methods should be simple to follow, acceptable and easily available with the farmers.

#### **8. Conclusion**

False smut is gradually emerging as a potential threat to rice cultivation around the globe. Since, there is no single effective method to combat the disease, all-available and suitable methods should be utilized to manage the disease as a short term strategy. However, for long-term strategy, the breeding and utilization of resistant cultivars are considered as the most effective strategies to manage false smut disease. Yet, little is known about the resistance gene(s) and quantitative trait loci for this important disease as well as molecular mechanisms for resistance against *U. virens*. Consequently, there is an increasing demand for new and effective methods

to supplement the existing disease management strategies to achieve superior control of false smut. Therefore, the research for resistant variety is the need of the hour for making the rice production a sustainable movement. Among the management methods available for false smut disease, the method should be chosen based on the disease intensity and economic status of the farmers. If the marginal farmers faced severe threat of false smut, management by cultural practices viz., change of sowing time to avoid the disease is one simple with no-cost involved and wherever available use of effective bio-agents. If the farmers can afford, timely application of fungicides in moderation as a preventive measure but not as curative. The use of resistant cultivar and integrated disease management should also be recommended for such progressive farmers when such varieties are available.
