Editorial
Kudos to Dr. Alam
Breaking genetic code of jute harming fungus
In a little more than two years, Dr. Maqsudul Alam has had his second major breakthrough. This time round, the decoding of the genome of the macrophomina paseolina, the killer fungus responsible for causing a loss of a third of total yield of jute annually in the country that has a market value of Tk4,000cr. We congratulate Dr. Alam and his team for this major achievement. Now scientists will be in a position to develop new varieties of jute better resistant to the fungus attack. Apart from decimating jute crop where Bangladesh is the second largest producer and exporter globally, macrophomina paseolina is also responsible for causing varying levels of damage to 500 other crop and non-crop species.
Needless to say, being able to develop new varieties of jute that are resistant to the fungus is a phenomenal achievement. As current species of jute require significant quantities of water to putrefy, new varieties could potentially be developed that will enable the jute to be rotted in less water. Indeed, developing fungus-resistant varieties of wheat, soybean, papaya and many other crops is now a distinct possibility enabling greater yields. The implication of developing such improved varieties of jute and other crops is that the country has the potential to earn more foreign exchange from export of jute while helping ensure food security for its growing population.
Bangladesh is in the process of getting patents for both jute genome and fungus genome sequencing. Once these are accomplished, the country can earn significant royalty when they are used globally. The importance of patenting cannot be underestimated as India alone earns US$2 billion in annual royalty from such patents. The recent discoveries have opened up Bangladesh's potential entry into the elite world agriculture research and development (R&D) and given proper government patronage, the infrastructure necessary for a new breed of scientists could develop in the near future.
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