Update: Plant Health News (21 Oct 15)

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Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including how technology could increase Citrus yields in Pakistan by 30%, what scientists in Kenya are doing to eliminate devastating wheat rust and a global maps of the gap between potential and actual yields of wheat and maize. Click on the link to read…
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World Food Prize 2014

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This week, the President of the World Food Prize Foundation, Ambassador Kenneth M. Quinn announced that Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram has been selected as the 2014 World Food Prize Laureate for his contribution to improving wheat yields. Dr. Rajaram’s work on crossing winter and spring wheat varieties resulted in an impressive 480 wheat varieties which have…
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The Life Cycle of Wheat Stem Rust

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Here’s a video with some great animation of how wheat stem rust spreads, and how highly virulent strains develop. To find out more about wheat rust, visit the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative website.
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Which is the most important plant-pathogenic fungus?

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A survey by the journal, Molecular Plant Pathology, had 495 responses from international fungal pathologists on what they thought the most scientifically and economically important fungal plant pathogens were. Several of the ‘top 10’ fungi from these results are those that infect cereal crops, which isn’t surprising as cereals such as wheat and rice are…
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Wheat rust and climate change – a possible connection

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A possible link between wheat stripe rust and climate change was observed by researchers meeting at the International Wheat Stripe Rust Symposium, which convened in Aleppo, Syria last week. The symposium organised by the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) aimed to review the current global status of wheat stripe rust…
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Aid donors join forces to fight wheat rust

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 Emerging strains of stem rust disease of wheat, such as Ug99, are spreading out of East Africa and threatening the world’s wheat supply. But the fight against this disease received a boost this week from a collaboration between the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The organisations have…
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