Effect of staggered rice sowing and flowering on incidence of false smut

False smut caused by Ustilaginoidea virens is currently an important disease of rice. The disease regularly occurs in many parts of India resulting in significant economic losses. To find an eco-friendly method of false smut management, the effect of staggered rice sowing and flowering on false smut incidence were evaluated in 2018 and 2019 seasons. Six rice varieties were sown at 15-day intervals from 24th May to 20th August in both the years. Most varieties developed false smut when their flowering occurred during September and October in both seasons of 2018 and 2019 irrespective of their sowing dates. The relative humidity showed positive correlation with Pooja and Sarala but negatively correlated with Anjali , Durga , Geetanjali and Naveen . Therefore, avoiding the flowering period during the critical months can considerably limit the false smut severity and help to manage the disease.