Rotting discoloured sheath and panicle stuck inside in my rice, what is it?

A rotten, discoloured flag leaf sheath with the panicle only partly emerging or trapped inside, sometimes with a whitish powdery growth, is the typical picture of sheath rot in rice, which attacks the boot stage and stops the panicle from coming out cleanly, leaving chaffy or discoloured grain. It is favoured by dense crops, high humidity, excess nitrogen and any earlier injury from borers or hoppers. Please confirm with a photo to your KVK or agri officer, because the stuck panicle can also be confused with damage from other causes. Cultural steps that help are avoiding very close spacing and heavy nitrogen, keeping good airflow, draining excess water to lower humidity at the base, and controlling stem borers and hoppers earlier so they do not open wounds. Use clean seed and a seed treatment next season. If the disease is active around boot stage and the crop is away from harvest, your officer may suggest a fungicide with a recommended active, but follow the label dose, the pre-harvest interval and the local KVK recommendation and rotate the mode of action.