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Rome, Italy and New Delhi, India
November 12, 2008
Representatives of major wheat
producing countries have called for urgent coordinated action to
prevent and control the wheat stem rust disease strain Ug99,
FAO said today. The fungus is
capable of causing heavy damage to wheat crops and is a major
threat to food security.
In a declaration adopted by the International Conference on
Wheat Stem Rust Ug99 - A Threat to Food Security in New Delhi
(6-8 November 2008), countries pledged to strongly support
prevention and control of the wheat stem rust as a matter of
national policy and international cooperation.
Affected countries and countries at risk should develop
contingency plans to prevent rust epidemics that could result in
devastating yield losses. Countries should share surveillance
information and a global early warning system should be
immediately established.
Plant breeding research should be intensified and international
cooperation enhanced to develop new Ug99 resistant varieties.
Quality seeds of rust resistant wheat varieties should be
multiplied nationally and distributed to needy farming
communities.
Over 130 participants from ministries of agriculture of 31
countries, senior policy makers, researchers, seed producers and
plant production experts attended the meeting, jointly organized
by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, the Government
of India, FAO and its Borlaug Global Rust Initiative partners.
Responding to the threat
"We will continue supporting countries in building national
capacities for research, extension, plant protection and seed
production and get the support of the international community
for achieving our common goals in responding to the wheat rust
global threat and improving livelihoods through enhanced food
security," said Modibo Traore, FAO Assistant Director-General,
Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department.
A new virulent strain of the wheat stem rust disease, called
Ug99 after its discovery in Uganda in 1999, has spread from East
Africa to Yemen, Sudan and in late 2007 to Iran. Currently there
is no evidence that the fungus has spread to any other country.
A recent field survey, funded by Cornell University in the US,
showed that Ug99 is not present in India, Pakistan, Egypt and
China.
It is estimated that as much as 80 percent of all wheat
varieties planted in Asia and Africa are susceptible to the new
strain. The spores of wheat rust are mostly carried by wind over
long distances and across continents.
Supporting countries
FAO has recently launched its Wheat Rust Disease Global
Programme that supports 29 countries in East and North Africa,
the Near East and Central and South Asia, that are either
affected or at risk of the disease and that account for 37
percent of global wheat production. FAO supports countries in
emergency prevention, contingency planning, the release of
improved varieties, seed multiplication and the training of
farmers.
The New Delhi meeting called upon the international community,
donors and international organizations to increase assistance to
national and global initiatives to combat the disease. Ug99
campaigns should involve the FAO Wheat Rust Disease Global
Programme and the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative. |
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