Stemming the tide of wheat rust disease
Ug99 has spread across much of Africa
© USDA
Ug99, a new strain of wheat stem rust first identified in Uganda, has since spread across much of Africa, and could soon threaten wheat crops in India and Pakistan. Working in partnership, the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) are breeding new varieties of wheat with resistance to the disease. As KARI wheat breeder Peter Njau explains, these could be available in large quantities by April 2012. Meanwhile, farmers need to protect their wheat crop with fungicide spray, if they can afford to do so.
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- View related article in New Agriculturist:
- News brief: Growing threat of wheat rust epidemics worldwide
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