Blasting rice refers to rice plants that are affected by rice blast disease, a destructive condition caused by a specific fungus. This disease is a significant concern for rice cultivation worldwide because it can severely reduce yield.
Understanding Rice Blast Disease
The rice blast fungus (Pyricularia oryzae, also known as Magnaporthe oryzae) is responsible for causing this disease. As stated in the reference, the fungus can infect and produce characteristic marks, called lesions, on any aboveground tissues of the rice plant.
How the Disease Gets Its Name
The common name given to the disease often changes depending on which part of the rice plant is infected. This is why the term "blasting rice" encompasses various manifestations of the same fungal infection.
Based on the tissues affected:
- Leaf Blast: Occurs when lesions appear on the leaves. These lesions can be diamond-shaped or oval and often have gray centers with reddish-brown borders.
- Neck Blast: This is considered particularly damaging. It happens when the fungus infects the node just below the panicle (the part of the plant bearing the rice grains). Infection here can cause the neck to break and the grains to fail to fill properly, leading to significant yield loss.
- Other Forms: The fungus can also affect other parts like nodes on the stem, panicle branches, and even the rice grains themselves.
In essence, blasting rice describes a plant suffering from this fungal attack, identified by the presence of lesions on its aboveground parts, which can manifest as leaf blast, neck blast, or other forms depending on the location of the infection.
Symptoms and Impact
The symptoms of rice blast disease are the lesions mentioned above. The appearance and severity of these lesions depend on factors like the rice variety, the age of the plant, and environmental conditions (such as humidity and temperature, which favor fungal growth). A severe infection can lead to stunted growth, plant death, and significant crop failure.
