Bangladeshi scientists offer to help India combat wheat blast

Warning that wheat blast could be "catastrophic" for South Asia, scientists from Bangladesh, which was ravaged by an outbreak of the disease in 2016, have offered to help their Indian counterparts tackle the deadly fungal foe, reported in India for the first time this year.

Following the first sightings of wheat blast in India in Bengal, experts at the Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya (BCKV) in the state have sought to fully understand the pathogen in collaboration with scientists at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (BSMRAU) in Bangladesh, given their experience in the matter.

"Through the collaboration with scientists from Bangladesh, we can step ahead as they are already continuing their studies from 2016. So their experience will help us. This kind of research will help even other countries of Southeast Asia where the disease is predicted to occur," Sunita Mahapatra, Assistant Professor, Plant Pathology, BCKV, Nadia,said.

Mahapatra is waiting for the go-ahead from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

Wheat blast is caused by a fungus known as Magnaporthe oryzae although scientists are still debating its exact identity.

Mahapatra says the disease, that periodically devastates crops in South America, has been detected in wheat in the Bangladesh-bordering Murshidabad and Nadia districts of Bengal in February. Wheat on at least 1,000 hectare in the two districts has been riddled with the fungus.

"ICAR, Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research and the Agriculture Department of the state government took immediate measures and decided to burn all the infested fields to stop its spread as well as its survival for the next season," Mahapatra said, adding initial investigations have confirmed the presence of the fungus.

Now, with the wheat harvesting season knocking on the doors, there is an urgency to "know the enemy".

Wheat blast was first sighted in Brazil in 1985. In February 2016, the disease emerged in eight districts of Bangladesh and became an epidemic -- the first reported outbreak outside South America. In Bangladesh, the fungus led to yield loss of up to 90 per cent in more than 15,000 hectares of crops last year.