Symptoms of fungal infection in plants include small, black, lesions on the leaves that develop into more widespread leaf rot, which then spreads to the stem and causes breakage.

As part of its life cycle, the fungus produces sclerotia that persist in dead plant tissue and the soil.

[3] Magnaporthe salvinii is an ascomycete fungus that infects a plant in a polycyclic manner, through conidia that are teardrop-shaped.

[4] When conditions become unfavorable, the fungus overwinters in sclerotia inside the dead host plant tissue, or within the soil.

Maximum tilling of the field significantly reduces the viability of the sclerotia in the soil compared to minimum and no tillage.