“Stem Rust” Fungus Threatens Global Wheat Harvest

With global stockpiles of grain already low and food prices high, a deadly airborne fungus, known as stem rust or Ug99, could compound famines and unrest in developing countries that cannot afford fungicides for their crops. “Plant breeders are now racing against time to develop new resistant wheat strains and distribute the seeds around the world,” reports John Vidal for the Guardian. The fungus has spread from Africa into the Middle East and is poised to attack crops in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan that feed 15 percent of the world’s population. Agriculture researchers had assumed that disease-resistant varieties developed in the 1960s had vanquished the fungus, but the new variety emerged and up to 90 percent of wheat crops in developing nations could be susceptible. Researchers develop and distribute fungus-resistant strains of seed, but not as quickly as the spores can travel the winds. – YaleGlobal