Wheat Blast

About Wheat Blast: 

• What it is? It is a fungal disease in tropical and subtropical wheat production regions caused by Magnaporthe oryzae.
• The fungus infects wild and cultivated grasses, most notably rice and wheat.
• It spreads through infected seeds, and crop residues as well as by spores that can travel long distances in the air.
• The crop fungi are known to mutate and adapt to new conditions
• History of the outbreak of this disease
  • Researchers first detected this pathogen in Brazilian wheat crops in the 1980s.
  • Asia’s first outbreak of this pathogenic wheat blast was reported in Bangladesh in 2016.
  • Two years later, an outbreak of this fungus was detected in wheat crops in Zambia, which was the first time the pathogen was detected in Africa.

Key Facts about Wheat

• It is the second most important cereal crop in India after rice.
• It is a Rabi crop which requires a cool growing season and bright sunshine at the time of ripening.
• Temperature: It requires 10-15°C (at the time of Sowing) and 21-26°C during Ripening & Harvesting.
• Rainfall: Around 75-100 cm.
• Soil required: Well-drained fertile loamy and clayey loamy.

Q1) What is Rabi crop?

Rabi crop is a type of agricultural crop that is sown in the winter season in India, usually between October and December, and harvested in the spring, typically between March and June.

Source: Wheat blast: A fungus that spread to three continents can threaten food security globally

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