Delivering rust resistant wheat to farmers: a step towards increased food security

Abstract

An important step towards reducing the vulnerability of wheat in Africa and Asia to the Ug99 race of the stem rust pathogen is the substitution of current susceptible varieties with superior resistant varieties. In the 2008-2009 cropping season both seed multiplication and dissemination of Ug99 resistant varieties were initiated in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, India, Nepal and Pakistan. Ug99 resistant varieties must occupy about 5% of the area sown to wheat in each country to ensure sufficient seed to displace current popular varieties. Because of the underdeveloped seed industry and small farm sizes in most of these countries, various strategies are being applied for rapid multiplication and dissemination of resistant varieties. Approaches being used include pre-release seed multiplication while candidate resistant lines are being tested in national evaluation trials and farmer participatory selection. Resistant varieties are already released in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt and Pakistan and more varieties are expected to be released in 2010 in these and other countries. Our results show that some new Ug99 resistant lines have yield superiority over dominant local varieties. Activities and progress in seed multiplication using existing and new Ug99 resistant varieties are discussed.

Crops that feed the world 10. Past successes and future challenges to the role played by wheat in global food security

“…Early rust epidemics are particularly feared by farmers as they may cause yield losses of 50 % to 100 % (in the case of stem rust). Identification and transfer of new sources of resistance in broadly-adapted high yield wheat genotypes are underway as a result of significant research investment through The Borlaug Global Rust Initiative; the replacement of susceptible varieties is the highest priority (Joshi et al 2011;Singh et al 2011). Delivering durable resistance to pathogens and pests that rapidly evolve new pathotypes is a priority.…”

“…In addition, analysis of germplasm released by CIMMYT for hot, irrigated environments shows significant progress, with many of the lines that perform well at the hottest sites also expressing good yield potential under more temperate conditions (Lillemo et al 2005), an important consideration given typical year-to-year variation in temperature. Recent effort has focused on breeding for earlier maturing cultivars that escape terminal heat stress and encompass resistance to diseases associated with warm humid environments (Joshi et al 2011) as well as the highly virulent stem rust strains of the Ug99 lineage.…”

Genetic Analysis of Resistance to Leaf Rust and Stripe Rust in Wheat Cultivar Francolin#1

“…Francolin#1 was released in India under the name 'Ufan' and in Bangladesh as 'BARI Gom 27'; in Nepal it is in the process of being released and it has performed outstandingly, with high yield and good rust resistance in the northeast Gangetic Plains of India, Nepal, and Bangladesh (14,34).…”

Wheat Stripe Rust Virulence and Varietal Resistance in the Foot Hill Himalayas of Nepal

“…This may also help to develop common strategies, like increasing genetic diversity of varieties, race monitoring and increasing adult plant resistance to minimize the epidemics of the rust in the region [22,24]. Faster seed delivery to farmers and researchers as demonstrated in case of Ug99 resistant wheat varieties can also be replicated for stripe rust resistant for quick management of rust [25].…”