Finger Millet Blast Disease: Potential Threat to Global Nutrition Security

Finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.), popularly known as ragi or mandua in India, is an important crop used for food, forage, and industrial products, grown under a wide range of climatic conditions, generally cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The crop is largely cultivated by resource-poor farmers, which serves as a food security crop because of rich nutrition and extraordinary storage qualities. Magnaporthe grisea is the most destructive pathogen causing blast disease on a variety of grasses including finger millet. Effective disease management requires identification of resistance source, and understanding the pathogen variability, ecology, and disease epidemiology. Despite a wide host range, presence of few AVR genes restricts the other M. grisea pathotypes from infecting finger millet. However, mutations of potential AVR genes resulting in skip towards new host remain a threat. Indeed, some isolates from other species of Poaceae are successful in infecting finger millet. This chapter provides precise information on the current status of finger millet blast and strategies for the management of disease.