Aarhus, Denmark
September 13, 2010
The world’s production of wheat is under increasing risk of devastating rust diseases. Scientists from Aarhus University, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, are asking for urgent action from the international community.
The global wheat supply is under threat of escalating wheat rust epidemics, in particular wheat yellow rust. This is the loud and clear message in a recent editorial in Science by scientists from the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark.
Since wheat is the world’s most widely spread cereal, crop losses could have a devastating effect on the world’s food supply. And that is exactly what is happening in recent years in many wheat growing areas on several continents.
The causes of the problems are infectious and destructive pathogenic fungi known as wheat rusts, i.e., stem (black) rust, leaf (brown) rust and yellow (stripe) rust. Currently, the main problem in most areas is wheat yellow rust. For decades the wheat rusts have been suppressed resistant wheat varieties.
New and aggressive rust strains are emerging
New and aggressive strains of the wheat yellow rust fungus are rapidly spreading across five continents. Large wheat-producing areas in Australia, China, Africa, the Middle East and Asia have been hit by yellow rust epidemics in 2009 and 2010.
- This may represent the most rapid and expansive spread ever of an important crop pathogen, says senior scientist and one of the authors of the Science article, Mogens Støvring Hovmøller from the Department of Integrated Pest Management. He points out that the new, aggressive strains of the yellow rust fungus are still evolving and they are even tolerating warmer temperatures than previously observed – which is bad news in a world facing global warming.
- If we are to prevent devastating crop losses, nations must coordinate to enact short-term solutions; they must also expand long-term efforts in research, plant breeding, and rust surveillance, Mogens Støvring Hovmøller points out.
A significant step towards increased international action against wheat yellow rust was taken last year, where Aarhus University launched an international facility in Denmark, in collaboration with the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). This Global Rust Reference Center (GRRC) is led by Mogens Støvring Hovmøller, Research Centre Flakkebjerg, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences.
Read the article in Science.
Topics
Species
