<p>Rice landraces are important resources for resistance breeding. The objective of this study was to describe the genetic diversity of rice landraces and their potential for rice blast resistance, we conducted a genetic diversity analysis using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers on a total of 141 rice landraces from seven populations in Yunnan. Our findings revealed a substantial genetic diversity within these seven Yunnan rice populations, with an expected heterozygosity (He) of 0.63. Structural analysis and principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) further revealed that the majority (94%) of genetic variation exists within the local rice populations of Yunnan. Additionally, greenhouse and field evaluations demonstrated a negative correlation between genetic diversity and rice blast incidence, as genetic diversity increased, the occurrence of rice blast decreased. We screened 39 landraces to assay the blast resistance genes, the results revealed that the genes <i>Pii</i>, <i>Pita2</i>, <i>Pid3</i>, <i>Pid4</i> and <i>Pikp/kh</i> were present in all 39 rice landraces, while <i>Pi1</i> was found in 81.6% of the rice landraces. 60.5% and 47.8% rice landraces were detected with the genes <i>Pik</i> and <i>Pi54</i>, respectively. Thus, the study revealed Yunnan rice landraces with higher genetic diversity were also more resistant to disease, and these highly resistant varieties had multiple resistance genes. Based on the present study, it can be concluded that there is a significant positive correlation between genetic diversity and disease resistance of rice landraces in Yunnan, and these highly resistant varieties typically possessed multiple genes that confer resistance to diseases. This study not only identified elite material for rice genetic improvement but also provided a theoretical basis for the protection and utilization of Yunnan rice landraces.</p>