New Delhi, India
August 30, 2008
Source:
Government of India
Actions include resistant
varieties, monitoring, global cooperation
There have been reports about a serious threat posed by Ug99, a
new rust disease, entering into India from Africa where it has
spread fast and devastated crops over the last few years.
Presently, Ug99 does not occur in India and all actions are in
place to check its entry and to nip it in the bud should it
enter the country. Surveillance and monitoring are in place to
detect any occurrence of the disease. A large number of popular
Indian wheat varieties already have resistant to this strain of
rust. Besides, international efforts are afoot to prevent the
spread of the disease and India actively participates in global
and regional initiatives. India is going to host an
international conference on this issue in November next.
The following is a detailed backgrounder on Ug99 and India’s
preparedness to tackle it.
Historically, stem rust of wheat has been the most destructive
disease of wheat and barley. It has inflicted heavy losses
worldwide, sometimes to the tune of more than 40% loss as in
America. The pathogen is a fungus called Puccinia graminis
tritici. In India, though the occurrence of this rust had been a
regular feature before the introduction of semi-dwarf wheat.
Coordinated research by the
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) helped
minimize the loss caused by this fungus through genes, which
prevent the fungus from causing harm to the crop.
Disease causing organisms continuously throw up new strains some
of which have the capacity to break disease-resistance in
plants, and this is the case in stem rust too. Plant breeders
constantly keep a vigil for this and keep breeding varieties to
upset this phenomenon. One unusually potent race of wheat rust
was detected in Uganda in 1999 (named Ug99) that infected wheat
grown in the region. It quickly spread to the neighbouring Kenya
and Ethiopia, and crossed the Red Sea into Asia. There are
reports of its occurrence in Iran at a relatively faster pace
than what was expected. Not only it spread quickly, it also
generated newer variants able to break the resistance of the
varieties grown in the region. This quick spread and ability to
generate variant forms in the African continent and beyond is a
concern of global wheat community. This feature brought the
wheat community on high alert, prompting Nobel laureate Dr.
Norman Borlaug to declare it as a global threat.
Wheat researchers of in India are in a state of preparedness
against wheat rust. Though the country has not faced with any
rust epidemic in the last four decades, the strategy of
conducting regular countrywide survey and surveillance continues
to be in place to monitor the occurrence of all wheat diseases
in different regions of the country. Trap-nurseries are also
raised to monitor the chance of any stray infection of the
disease. So far any presence the Ug99 or its variants has not
been noticed from any part of India. Not willing to take any
chances with the potential threat, the Council has taken
necessary steps in wheat research programme to safeguard the
wheat crop against destructive pathogens like Ug99.
In view of the fact that the Ug99 does not exist in India, the
testing of resistance (a plant defense mechanism) against it can
only be undertaken in Kenya where the disease is prevalent.
Hence the ICAR has, in collaboration with the
International Wheat and Maize Research Centre (CIMMYT),
Mexico, stated a testing program of wheat at Njoro in Kenya
since 2005. The tests have shown that there are many Indian
wheat varieties with resistance to Ug99 and its variants. The
presence of diverse resistance in some of these varieties is
very encouraging, as it would help wheat to fight against Ug99
and other future threats of this magnitude. Accordingly, the
resistant wheat materials are being multiplied and provided to
wheat breeders for further research and the seed of already
released varieties with resistance to Ug99 or its variants are
being multiplied. During 2007-08, more than 4000 quintals of
breeder seed of 11 wheat varieties having Ug99 resistance was
produced. These varieties are GW 273, GW 322, HI 1500, HD 2781,
MP 4010, HUW 510, MACS 2846(durum), HI 8498 (durum), UP 2338, DL
153-2 and HW 1085. In the recently concluded national wheat
workshop at Hisar in August 2008, another new variety Raj 4120
resistant to Ug99 has also been identified for release.
Presently, the priority is on extensive surveys in the target
areas to detect the first infection of Ug99 or its variants, if
and when it comes, before it acquires alarming proportions. The
experience suggests that it takes a few seasons for a new race
to build up and appear on a large scale to cause economic
losses. Thus, even in remotest event of Ug99 reaching India, the
years required for it to take epidemic proportions would be
utilized to multiply the already identified resistant varieties,
breed new varieties and then aggressively distributing these to
the cultivators to avoid any loss in the farmer’s field. As an
immediate relief measure, chemical control technology is also
available to ensure that this race does not spread and cause
damage. As a precautionary measure, a special team has been
constituted to survey and monitor the summer wheat crop in the
higher hills of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Southern
hills in Tamil Nadu to detect and track down Ug99 or its
variants. A new version of the popular variety PBW 343, which is
reported to possess in-built resistance to Ug99, is also being
acquired from International Centre for Agricultural Research in
Dryland Areas (ICARDA), Syria for its seed multiplication and
utilization in the country.
In addition, India is proactively participating in the Borlaug
Global Rust Initiative (BGRI) Programme as its core member to be
in a state of preparedness against any serious consequences
because of this disease. The programmes at the international
level are aimed at sensitizing the nations in the migration path
of Ug99 to grow resistant varieties that would help decrease the
build up of the strain and its subsequent migration to other
countries. The tracking programme for the Ug99 and its variants
is already on to monitor its migration into newer areas.
Thus a multi-pronged strategy is already in place to render the
rust ineffective even in the most unlikely event of Ug99
striking Indian Territory. The Indian wheat programme is fully
geared to take on the challenge of overcoming the challenge
posed by Ug99. Since cooperative and collaborative network
across geo-political limits are part of a global strategy
against the rust, in November 2008, India will host the
‘International Conference Wheat Stem Rust Ug99 – A Threat to
Food Security’ for stressing the importance and also forging a
regional/global strategy to address this threat.
Source:
Indian Council of Agricultural
Research
New race
of wheat stem rust
Ug99 – Be aware and do not be scared
August 30, 2008
New Delhi
Historically, stem rust of wheat has been the most destructive
disease of wheat and barley and has inflicted very heavy losses
worldwide some times to the tune of more than 40% loss in
America. The organism is a fungus called Puccinia graminis
tritici . In India, though the occurrence of this rust had been
a regular feature before the introduction of semi- dwarf wheat
developed through a network of coordinated research programme by
the Indian Council of Agricultural Research minimized the loss
caused by this fungus through genes which prevent the fungus
from causing any harm to the crop.
Adjusting to the resistance in the host by throwing up different
strains with the capacity to break the resistance is a natural
phenomenon, which is the case in stem rust too. Plant breeders
constantly keep a vigil for this and keep breeding varieties to
upset this phenomenon. However, one unusually potent race was
detected in Uganda in 1999 (named Ug99) that infected wheat
grown in the region. Subsequently, it has quickly spread in the
neighbouring countries like Kenya and Ethiopia and has crossed
the Red sea as there are reports of its occurrence in Iran at a
relatively faster pace than what was expected. Not only it
spread quickly, but it also generated newer variants able to
break the resistance of the varieties grown in the region. This
quick spread and ability to generate variant forms in the
African continent and beyond is a concern of global wheat
community. This feature brought the wheat community on high
alert prompting Nobel laureate Dr. Norman Borlaug to declare it
as a global threat.
The researchers of wheat in India have a position of
preparedness in protecting the crop as wheat is accorded top
priority in our R&D programmes as it directly impacts our food
security. Thus, despite having not faced with any epidemic since
last four decades, the strategy of conducting regular
countrywide survey and surveillance continued to be in place to
monitor the occurrence of all wheat diseases in different
regions of the country. Trap-nurseries are also raised to
monitor the chance of any stray infection of the disease. So far
any presence the Ug99 or its variants has not been noticed from
any part of our country. Not willing to take any chances with
the potential threat, the Council has taken necessary steps in
wheat research programme to safeguard the wheat crop against
destructive pathogen like Ug99.
In view of the fact that the Ug99 does not exist in India, the
testing of resistance (a plant defense mechanism) against it can
only be undertaken in Kenya where the disease is prevalent.
Hence the ICAR, in collaboration with International Wheat and
Maize Research Centre (CIMMYT), Mexico has stated a testing
program of wheat at Njoro in Kenya since 2005. The tests have
shown that there are many Indian wheat varieties with resistance
to Ug99 and its variants. The presence of diverse resistance in
some of these varieties is very encouraging as it would help
wheat to fight against Ug99 and other future threats of this
magnitude. Accordingly, the resistant wheat materials are being
multiplied and provided to wheat breeders for further research
and the seed of already released varieties with resistance to
Ug99 or its variants are being multiplied. For example, during
the years 2007-08 more than 4,000q of breeder seed of 11 wheat
varieties having Ug99 resistance namely, GW 273, GW 322, HI
1500, HD 2781, MP 4010, HUW 510, MACS 2846(durum), HI 8498
(durum), UP 2338, DL 153-2 and HW 1085 was produced. In the
recently concluded national wheat workshop at Hisar in August
2008, another new variety Raj 4120 resistant to Ug99 has also
been identified for release.
Presently, our priority is on extensive surveys in the target
areas to detect the first infection of Ug99 or its variants, if
and when it comes, before it acquires alarming proportions. The
experience suggests that it takes a few seasons for the race to
build up and appear on a large scale to cause economic losses.
Thus, even in remotest event of Ug99 reaching India, the years
required for it to take epidemic proportions would be utilized
to multiply the already identified resistant varieties, breed
new varieties and then aggressively distributing these to the
cultivators to avoid any loss in the farmer's field. As an
immediate relief measure, chemical control technology is also
available to ensure that this race does not spread and cause
damage. As a precautionary measure, a special team has been
constituted to survey and monitor the summer wheat crop in the
higher hills of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Southern
hills in Tamil Nadu to detect and track down Ug99 or its
variants. A new version of the popular variety PBW 343 which is
reported to possess inbuilt resistance to Ug99 is also being
acquired from International Centre for Agricultural Research in
Dryland Areas (ICARDA), Syria for its seed multiplication and
utilization in the country.
In addition, India is proactively participating in the Borlaug
Global Rust Initiative (BGRI) Programme as its core member to be
in a state of preparedness against any serious consequences
because of this disease. The programmes at the International
level are aimed at sensitizing the nations in the migration path
of Ug99 to grow resistant varieties that would help decrease the
inoculum build up and its subsequent migration to other
countries. The tracking programme for the Ug99 and its variants
is already on to monitor its migration into newer areas.
hus a multi-pronged strategy is already in place to render the
rust ineffective even in the most unlikely event of Ug99
striking Indian territory. We are confident and f eel that such
a vibrant technical programme will stand by Indian farming
community and will be able to avoid any crisis likely to be
caused by this disease. The Indian wheat programme is fully
geared to take on the challenge of overcoming the challenge
posed by Ug99. Since cooperative and collaborative network
across geo-political limits are part of a global strategy
against the rust, in November, 2008, India will host an
International Conference Wheat Stem Rust Ug99 – A Threat to Food
Security for stressing the importance and also forging a
Regional/Global strategy to address this threat.
(PR UNIT/August/2008) |
|
