Alterations to the Physico-Chemical Properties of Rice Grain upon Infection by False Smut Disease and Challenge Inoculation by the Native Bioagents

False smut caused by the flower-infecting fungus, Ustilaginoidea virens has become an important disease of rice seriously hampering quality and quantity of rice worldwide. Presently, rice false smut (RFS) was generally controlled by synthetic fungicides, which affect grain quality and human health upon consumption. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of native Biological Control Agents (BCAs) in managing false smut disease. The study included both in vitro and in vivo conditions to assess the ability of four native bioagents (Trichoderma asperellum strain TAIK 1, Bacillus cabrialesii strain BIK3, Pseudomonas putida strain PIK1, and Pseudomonas otitidis strain POPS1) in controlling the disease and also increasing the physicochemical properties of grain. The in vitro and in vivo evaluation revealed maximum inhibition of U. virens by consortia of BCAs by 67.54% over the control plants. Besides disease suppression, BCAs were found to be beneficial to rice as evidenced by the increase in the hulling, milling and head rice recovery, cooking quality, and nutritional qualities like total protein and amylose content. BCAs will be a management strategy for false smut disease.