Kenya Agricultural Research Institute
Black spores on a stalk of wheat show the effects of the disease.
Posted on 09/08/2005 10:30:06 PM PDT by neverdem
NAIROBI - A resilient new strain of wheat fungus from east Africa is threatening to spread to the Middle East, Asia and the Americas and bring catastrophic crop damage, scientists said on Thursday.
Researchers said the new Ug99 form of stem rust could be spread by the wind and attacked many varieties of spring and winter wheat that were resistant to other strains of the fungus.
The strain could easily spread from Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia, which were the countries currently affected.
"Recognising the potential that this disease has...there‘s almost no one exempt," said Ronnie Coffman, head of Cornell University‘s Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics.
Coffman led the group of scientists who conducted research into Ug99, and released a report on Thursday on how to fight its spread.
"What we have to achieve is to stop this disease from spreading to other parts of the world. Otherwise we are going to see a catastrophe," said Masa Iwanaga, director general of Mexico‘s International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre
The scientists gave no firm numbers on potential damage, but said they feared an epidemic similar to those that caused major grain losses in North America in 1903, 1905 and 1950-54 and famine in Asia.
All those occurred before the cultivation of wheat varieties that were immune to stem rust, the report said.
Discovered in Uganda in 1999, the new strain could also be spread by travellers.
A previous strain identified in Ethiopia in 1986 arrived in Egypt five years later, and prevailing wind patterns made it likely the new strain would travel similarly, the scientists said.
The report said there was still time to isolate wheat varieties resistant to Ug99 and distribute them to farmers with susceptible crops, especially in north Africa and Asia.
Crop monitoring must also be instituted in regions close to east Africa, it said.
The report was prepared by scientists from CIMMYT, the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organisation and Syria ‘s International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas.
I remember when we tried to send Africa some grains.
The French made a big stink about "genetically modified" grains. The supplies were burned or destroyed, and people starved. The French were happy because now they could sell their grains to the Africans.
This fungus ought to make the French happy too.
So much for wheat bread. We're doomed. We're all doomed!
:)
WE'RE DOOOOOOOOOOMED!
sorry... hadda say it.
reading the article now.
Bush's Fault!
We're all gonna have to eat cornbread now. We're absolutely DOOMED...and Subway Sandwiches will be BANKRUPT. I mean who will eat roast beef in cornbread? The economy is doomed and nothing can stop the impending doom and gloooooooooooooooom.
Unload all your stock now! Save yourself, Carl!
:)
Eat more teff...
I think they sell something for this at the drug store.
OHHhhh. Wheeaaat!
Search for a Perfect Tan May Prove Addictive, Doctors Suggest
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list. Anyone can post any unrelated link as they see fit.
You forget
Hemp flour!
Oh darn, how will I live without wheat? LOL.
IIRC, you don't need or want no stinkin gluten as in gluten enteropathy or celiac sprue.
Time to bring back amaranth.
That's right. Diagnosed last fall.
For years my parents took me to an ear/nose/throat doctor trying to cure the chronic sinusitus. Mom would fix some wheat based cereal in the morning with a glass of orange juice. The rest of the day I gagged on post nasal drip and had wretched stomach cramps. Thankfully, I found the cause.
http://www.cimmyt.org/english/wps/news/2005/aug/stemRust.htm
http://www.promedmail.org/pls/promed/f?p=2400:1000 (This maybe a good research site for you)
Sr31 Virulence Found in Uganda
http://www.cdl.umn.edu/special_rpts/sr31vir/Sr31_vir.html
That is why the French Foreign Legion is the best. They are not French..
Thanks for the links, especially the second link!
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