USAID Supported Research Tackles Threat of Wheat Stem Rust in Africa, Asia
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Wheat Stem Rust |
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USAID has spearheaded the formation of a coalition of public and private sector partners to tackle the threat posed by wheat stem rust, a devastating fungal disease that has reemerged in East Africa. Since its discovery in 1999, the disease has continued to spread and is now threatening worldwide wheat production, including that from South Asia’s breadbaskets.
Wheat is one of the most important staple food crops worldwide, supplying, with rice, 50 percent of the calories and over 40 percent of the protein to around 3.5 billion people in Asia. In 2000 Asia accounted for 57 percent of global wheat and rice production, but many Asian countries have since become net importers of wheat due in part to falling production resulting from stress and disease.
Wheat stem rust is one of the major diseases devastating wheat production in Asia and Africa. Discovered in 1999, a virulent strain of the fungus-based pathogen has since spread throughout East Africa and into Asia, causing yield losses of up to 70% or even 100%. The disease could rapidly reach South Asia’s bread basket, endangering the food security of tens of millions of people.
Recognizing the urgency of the problem and importance of wheat for subsistence in the developing world, USAID has provided significant support to genetic improvement research programs mainly through Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Centers such as International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA).
Since 2005, USAID support to CGIAR centers has led to the development of varieties resistant to the new disease strain while also providing a 10 -15 % boost in yields. The higher yielding, rust-resistant varieties are ready for deployment in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iraq, Nepal, Pakistan, Yemen and India.
To involve more players in the effort to combat wheat stem rust, the Agency built a coalition of partners such as the CGIAR centers, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), FAO, Cornell University and USDA to invest in research, development and distribution of new varieties. The agency also sponsored a workshop on standardizing protocols and international collaboration related to wheat stem rust in March, 2008 in Aleppo, Syria attended by 49 scientists of some 15 countries.
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