Healthy rice field in China (IMAGE) University of California - Berkeley Caption Blast disease destroys between 10% and 35% of the world’s rice harvest each year. A new discovery could lead to fungicides that block the pathogen, Magnaporthe oryzae, from entering the leaves. This photo of a healthy rice field was taken in Chengdu, China, in 2019. Credit Nick Talbot, The Sainsbury Lab Usage Restrictions none License Original content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.