The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) has expanded its partnership with research centers of the CGIAR Consortium and the University of Aarhus to build the capacity of countries to detect and combat emerging threats from wheat rusts, a group of fungal plant diseases that can cause significant damage to cereal production.
15 April, 2016: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) has expanded its partnership with research centers of the CGIAR Consortium and the University of Aarhus to build the capacity of countries to detect and combat emerging threats from wheat rusts, a group of fungal plant diseases that can cause significant damage to cereal production.
The focus will be on providing training in wheat rust surveillance, resistance and management for experts from Central Asian and Near East countries where a recent increase in wheat rust infections has raised concerns about a possible re-emergence of wheat rust as threat to global food security. FAO, in collaboration with the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the University of Aarhus’ Global Rust Reference Center (CRRG), and the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI), will organize a training workshop, followed by increased sampling and surveillance efforts in Central Asian and Near East countries to assess emerging wheat rust threats, and targeted capacity-building measures to make available rust-resistant varieties and fungicides in countries that may be effected by outbreaks.
Wheat rusts can affect the stems and leaves of wheat, rye and barely leading to up to 80% of yield loss in affected fields. Airborne spores of wheat rusts can travel over large distances, enabling rapid spread of new variants of the plant diseases. In the early 20th century wheat rust epidemics were recognized as a serious threat to global food production, but their incidence declined after 1940 due to advances in plant breeding and fungicide applications.
In 1999, a new variant named Ug99 was identified that is able to overcome the defense mechanisms of rust-resistant cereal varieties, leading to concerns about a possible re-emergence of global wheat rust epidemics. In the following years, several international initiatives were launched to prevent the spread of emerging wheat rust diseases and manage associated risks, including the FAO Wheat Rust Diseases Global Programme, BGRI and GRRC. [UN Press Release] [FAO Press Release] [BGRI Website] [FAO Wheat Rust Diseases Programme 2014-2017] [GRRC Website]