by Aubry Tucker
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.—According to the American Psychopathological Society rice blast has been ranked among the worst plant diseases of them all. Rice blast is responsible for the loss of 10 to 30 percent of the planet’s rice crop.
Yong Wang and Martin Egan are investigating rice blast resistant crops to combat the disease. Crops infected with rice blast could feed 60 million people a year, Egan said. Arkansas is one of the few rice growing states in America, in addition to California, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas. Even with other state contribution to the crop, Arkansas still produces half of all rice grown in the United States.
“Blast poses a major threat to global food security,” Egan said.
Current efforts to battle rice blast include topical sprays and disease resistant plants, but both are expected to be unsuccessful.
The researchers received a $110,332 Chancellor’s Grant to investigate the cell functions of the blast fungus infecting the crop.