February 24, 2009
Stem rust could threaten US wheat crop
US scientists are rushing to find a way to fight stem rust, a disease that is ravaging African wheat crops, as it could spread to US farmlands.
The disease destroyed much of the wheat crop in North Dakota and Minnesota as well as elsewhere in the Great Plains back in the 1950s.
The fungus is able to spread rapidly and stem rust can explode to crisis proportions in the right conditions within a year, according to Norman Borlaug, an agronomist, humanitarian, and Nobel laureate.
The disease has immense destructive potential, said Borlaug.
Scientists have fought the fungus in the past by developing strains of wheat resistant to it. But the modern day stem rust enya is threatening to spread worldwide, prompting experts to find plants that are resistant to it.
However, no reliable resistant variety has been found, according to Kay Sexton of the environmental politics website Red Green and Blue.
This year, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have awarded US$26.8 million to a project on stem rust problem.
