Wheat blast caused by the plant pathogenic fungus Magnaporthe oryzae pathotype Triticum has recently emerged as one of the most threatening fungal diseases of wheat, capable of causing wide-scale epidemics and consequently significant production losses. It's high propensity of becoming pandemic in a very short span of time and possibility of “host evolution” and “host jump” has been reported in numerous instances and makes it a disease to be prioritized in the world wheat breeding program. The major handicap in this context is that the genetic architecture of the wheat blast host resistance is poorly understood and the sources of genetic resistance remain largely unidentified. The disease has already become pandemic to South American countries of Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina and in few cases, it has completely devastated the wheat production. The 2016 Bangladesh outbreak has sent an impulse of concern for the wheat production systems of the neighboring India, China, and Pakistan—the major wheat producing countries of the world. The present chapter focuses on multiple aspects of the wheat blast disease including the history, disease epidemiology (disease cycle, disease development, management, and diagnosis) and economics, pathogen biology (pathogen evolution, variability, host range, and host shuttling), genetic resistance (host as well as nonhost resistance), and its available sources, including the strategies in place for screening and breeding for blast-resistant wheat varieties. It also discusses the wheat blast vulnerability of the world and the Bangladesh case study including the success story of blast-resistant wheat variety “BARI Gom 33.” A complete section in the chapter has been devoted for understanding the disease in the context of India, upon which the threat of wheat blast is looming large. The severity of threat and its mitigation along with the preparedness of India against wheat blast have also been discussed.

Wheat CRP FP3 - Global partnership to accelerate genetic gain in farmers field

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