Burning of blast affected wheat in BADC's Nurnagar Farm in Bangladesh in March 2016

Four hectares of blast affected wheat fields of Nurnagar seed multiplication farm of Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) in Chuadanga, Bangladesh was cleared by burning. This burning of blast infected wheat was done by the decision of the Ministry of Agriculture of Bangladesh to destroy pathogen inocula. Some farmers wheat field that were severely affected by blast disease were also burned. In February 2016, wheat blast disease was detected for the first time in Asia with reports of a severe outbreak in Bangladesh, which devastated at least 15,000 ha of wheat crops in eight districts namely, Meherpur, Chuadanga, Kushtia, Jhenaidah, Pabna, Jessore, Bhola and Barisal. About 355 ha of blast affected wheat in government owned BADC's farms in several districts were similarly burned. Wheat blast is a serious disease of wheat which was first discovered in Brazil in 1985, and since then it is a serious threat to wheat growers in many South American countries including Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. The disease is caused by a fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae pathotype Triticum, which is difficult to control by chemical fungicides or breeding resistant variety. Its emergence in Bangladesh creates a serious concern in South Asian countries as it easily disseminates through airborne conidia as well as by infected seeds (http://www.nature.com/news/devastating-wheat-fungus-appears-in-asia-for-first-time-1.19820). The blast pathogen of wheat that devastated a large area of wheat in Bangladesh is likely to came in Bangladesh from South America (http://s620715531.websitehome.co.uk/owb/). It is still unknown how this fearsome pathogen came to Bangladesh from South America. Video Clip Credit: Md. Aminullah, Senior Assistant Director, Nurnagar Farm, BADC Video clip edited by Tahsin Islam Sakif, CIS, Dhaka