Chemopriming for induction of disease resistance against pathogens in rice

Rice is an important grain crop of Asian population. Different fungal, bacterial and viral pathogens cause large reduction in rice grain production. Use of chemical pesticides, to provide protection against pathogens, has become incomplete due to pathogens resistance and is cause of environmental concerns. Therefore, induction of resistance in rice against pathogens via biopriming and chemopriming with safe and novel agents has emerged on a global level as ecofriendly alternatives that provide protection against broad spectrum of rice pathogens without any significant yield penalty. In the past three decades, a number of chemicals such as silicon, salicylic acid, vitamins, plant extract, phytohormones, nutrients etc. have been used to induce defense against bacterial, fungal and viral rice pathogens. From the detailed analysis of abiotic agents used, it has been observed that silicon and salicylic acid are two potential chemicals for inducing resistance against fungal and bacterial diseases in rice, respectively. However, an inclusive evaluation of the potential of different abiotic agents to induce resistance against rice pathogens is lacking due to which the studies on induction of defense against rice pathogens via chemopriming has become disproportionate and discontinuous. The present review deals with a comprehensive analysis of different abiotic agents used to induce defense against rice pathogens, their mode of application, mechanism of defense induction and the effect of defense induction on grain yield. It also provides an account of unexplored areas, which might be taken into attention to efficiently manage rice diseases. Data availability statement: Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.