The Ug99 strain of the killer wheat fungus (stem rust), which recently infected wheat farms in western Iran, is a serious threat to global food security, agricultural scientists have warned.
Mahmoud Solh, director-general of the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), was quoted in a 20 March ICARDA press release as saying that he and his fellow scientists were convinced that Ug99 would quickly spread beyond Iran and that, with the long distance travel of rust spores, Ug99 would soon affect farms in the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia and East Asia.
SVÆR AT BEKÆMPE
Richard Brettell, director of the Biodiversity and Integrated Gene Management Programme at ICARDA, told IRIN on 26 March that halting the spread of the stem rust spores is difficult since they are dispersed by the wind.
– The fungus can to some extent be controlled by the application of fungicides [as a spray]; however, these need to be applied at an early stage of infection before the disease takes hold, he said.
Brettell said the most effective way of controlling the disease is to grow resistant varieties.
But he warned that almost all the wheat varieties grown in West and South Asia are known to be susceptible to Ug99.
It will take time and coordination to replace them with resistant varieties.
KAN SPREDES VIDT OMKRING
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned in early March that the major wheat-producing countries to the east of Iran should be on high alert. Other areas likely to be affected include the Mediterranean region, north Africa, southern Europe, eastern Europe and Russia.
According to ICARDA, sporadic epidemics of stem rust, also known as black rust, have plagued wheat production before.
It cites an outbreak of the disease in North America in the 1950s which destroyed up to 40 percent of the spring wheat crop.
Since the discovery of Ug99 in Uganda in 1999, the fungus has infected crops in north and east African countries and in early 2006 it was found in Yemen as had been predicted based on earlier movements of yellow rust.
Kilde: www.irinnews.org
