Kabul, Afghanistan
July 30, 2009
Scientists report successes in
overcoming a virulent form of stem rust, call for speed in
scaling up systems for multiplying and distributing
rust-resistant seeds to farmers
Scientists are racing to arm Afghanistan against a new invader—a
deadly, airborne wheat rust disease that threatens wheat
production and food security in this war-torn nation and the
region that stretches east across neighboring Pakistan and into
India.
Known as “Ug99”, this deadly new virulent race of wheat stem
rust has thus far been found in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and
Sudan, and has more recently spread into Asia, to Yemen and now
Iran. “It is only a matter of time before it reaches Afghanistan
and then South Asia," said Dr. Mahmoud Solh, Director General of
the International Center for
Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) in Aleppo,
Syria. “We have been lucky so far, but we know that the disease
is heading in this direction, and most of the varieties planted
in the region are at risk. In fact, most of the wheat varieties
used around the world are vulnerable to this stem rust; the last
major outbreak of stem rust was seen during the 1950s.”
The threat of Ug99 to the wheat fields of Afghanistan and other
nations in the region has led wheat experts to agree that at
least 10 percent of the nation’s wheat fields must be replaced
on an annual basis with Ug99-resistant varieties that are also
adapted to conditions in Afghanistan.
“The stem rust threat is particularly dangerous because nearly
all farmers in Afghanistan grow wheat for food or sale,” said
Dr. Mahmood Osmanzai, a wheat scientist from the
International Center for the
Improvement of Maize and Wheat (CIMMYT), who is based in the
country. “A wheat stem rust epidemic would be economically and
culturally significant and far reaching.”
Progress with Support from Donors
For the last six years, efforts to boost the production of
disease-resistant varieties have been supported by funds from
the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research
(ACIAR) and USAID, with significant progress. Scientists from
ICARDA and CIMMYT have introduced seed of many high-yielding and
disease resistant varieties of wheat. In addition to their
success with multiplying resistant varieties, the scientists
have preliminary results suggesting it may be possible to speed
up seed multiplication by planting a second crop of wheat in
high altitude regions where the climate is cooler. Thirteen
farmers’ associations, known collectively as the Afghan National
Seed Organization (ANSAR), also have been created to grow seed
of improved varieties for sale to other farmers. Yet challenges
remain in meeting the demand for seed at an affordable price.
ICARDA scientist Dr. Javed Rizvi notes that farmers often lack
credit to purchase the new seed. This means that the
associations that produce the seed feel pressured to sell their
stocks for food rather than waiting for farmers to pay the
market price. “There are still too few places to store seed
until the planting season in November,” Rizvi said. "At this
pace, it will be at least four years before enough seed of new
wheat varieties becomes available, which is far too long, given
the imminent danger of Ug99."
The country's agricultural research and extension capacity and
infrastructure have been severely damaged after decades of war.
ICARDA and CIMMYT are making efforts to help Afghan farmers get
back on their feet by helping them improve and sustain crop
production. These include the testing, evaluation, release and
seed multiplication not only of wheat but of improved maize,
chickpeas, mung beans, rice and potato varieties in
collaboration with the
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) based in the
Philippines, International
Center for Research in the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in
India, the International Potato Center (CIP) in Peru, and the
World Vegetable Center in Taiwan; promoting the use of
high-value crops, like mint and saffron; and of conservation
agriculture practices; as well as various efforts to train
Afghan researchers/extension workers and farmers.
Osmanzai noted that six new promising wheat and three maize
varieties have been released in Afghanistan in the last seven
years, following an intensive process of testing, release and
certification to ensure that they are suitable for local
conditions. He says the emerging stem rust threat has added a
new urgency to ongoing efforts to improve agriculture in the
region.
“CIMMYT and ICARDA have been providing improved seed as well as
training Afghan wheat scientists since the 1970s,” Rizvi said.
“To tackle Ug99, we would need to move faster than we ever have
before, in order to address the threat and replace old varieties
with new resistant ones.”
Ensuring food security in Afghanistan and neighboring countries
is becoming increasingly difficult, according to the scientists
responsible for improving agriculture in Afghanistan. A drought
during the 2008 growing season severely reduced wheat harvests
and caused grain shortages. And Afghanistan continues to face a
potential “food deficit,” although spring rains this year made
possible a bumper harvest of 3.4 million tons of wheat, a jump
of 127 percent over last year, according to the US Department of
Agriculture. *
“This year's harvest was good, but some of it was damaged by a
second wheat disease known as yellow rust. This shriveled the
grain, so there could be unexpected deficits," Osmanzai said.
"Afghanistan was self-sufficient in wheat in 1978, due in part
to widespread adoption of varieties from CIMMYT. But production
more recently has ranged from 2.3 to 4.5 million tons—far short
of the yearly 5 million tons consumed.”
New Threat from Old Foe
According to Rizvi and Osmanzai, addressing wheat diseases such
as stem rust and yellow rust is vital to any strategy to improve
food security and agriculture in Afghanistan and of crucial
importance in preventing the spread of Ug99 into Pakistan and
India. Stem rust has plagued wheat farmers worldwide for
thousands of years, but for the last 50 years it has been
largely forgotten thanks to resistant varieties developed by a
group of scientists led by Norman Borlaug, who earned a Nobel
Peace Prize for his efforts.
Unfortunately, in 1998, the Ug99 stem rust variant discovered in
Uganda showed itself able to overcome the resistance that was
first established by Borlaug’s team. Experts watched with alarm
as Ug99 quickly moved to Kenya, where it proved capable of
cutting wheat yields by 20 to 80 percent, with isolated
incidents of total crop destruction.
Earlier this year, at the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative 2009
Technical Workshop in Mexico, researchers from CIMMYT, ICARDA,
the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), and the
Ethiopian Institute for Agricultural Research (EIAR) described a
technological breakthrough—the development of new varieties of
wheat that are not only resistant to Ug99, but also produce more
grain than today’s most popular varieties. The scientists said
their research suggests that 90 percent of wheat varieties
planted around the world are vulnerable to Ug99, and that the
pathogen is now in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan, Yemen and
Iran, and is on the march toward South Asia. *
A global mapping system, modified from FAO models that track
movement of locusts, is being put in place to follow and predict
the pathway of Ug99, but Rizvi and his colleagues have launched
their own simple early warning system using biological rust trap
nurseries at three locations, including Herat near the Iranian
border and Nangarhar near the Pakistani borders.
"So far the plants have been clean," Rizvi says, "but there's no
telling how long before the new stem rust appears here."
The CGIAR, established in 1971, is a strategic partnership of
countries, international and regional organizations and private
foundations supporting the work of 15 international centers. In
collaboration with national agricultural research systems, civil
society and the private sector, the CGIAR fosters sustainable
agricultural growth through high-quality science aimed at
benefiting the poor through stronger food security, better human
nutrition and health, higher incomes and improved management of
natural resources. For more information, please visit
www.cgiar.org.
CIMMYT is an internationally funded, not-for-profit organization
that conducts research and training related to maize and wheat
throughout the developing world. CIMMYT works to create, share,
and use knowledge and technologies to increase food security,
improve the productivity and profitability of farming systems,
and sustain natural resources. For more information, please
visit www.cimmyt.org.
ICARDA is an international agricultural research center
established in 1977 with the mission to improve livelihoods in
resource-poor dry areas through sustainable agricultural
development achieved through research, partnerships, and
capacity development in dry areas in the developing world.
ICARDA has the mandate to improve barley globally, and wheat in
Central and west Asia and North Africa; to improve food legumes
globally (faba bean, lentil, kabuli chickpea, and lathyrus); and
to enhance water productivity as well as the productivity of
rangelands, forages, and small ruminants (sheep and goats) in
dry areas. www.icarda.org
*
http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/highlights/2009/06/Afghanistan/
** See:
http://www.globalrust.org/uploads/file/stem_rust_release_eng.pdf
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