FAO is calling for countries in the global 'wheat belt' to step up monitoring and prevention for wheat rusts – fungal diseases that do especially well in particularly wet seasons. Yields could be affected across North Africa, the Middle East into West and South Asia, which together account for more than 30 percent of global wheat output and nearly 40 percent of total land area dedicated to wheat planting.

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"The favourable growing conditions for wheat are also good for the rust diseases that affect wheat, so when there is good precipitation for wheat, that is also when wheat rusts will be able to best thrive and proliferate," said Fazil Dusunceli, Agriculture Officer in FAO's Plant Production and Protection Division, and a specialist in wheat rusts.

"The ideal approach to prevent the rusts is to grow the right cultivars which are resistant to rust diseases. This minimizes the disease risks. In case of sudden epidemics, fungicide sprays can help to mitigate the effects of the disease, but only if they are caught at an early stage," Dusunceli added.

Through Dusunceli, FAO has called for a boost in monitoring and surveillance activities in regions where risk is highest. He said special efforts need to be made to protect crops in East Africa, particularly in Ethiopia and Kenya, where the growing season is underway and rains have been favourable. If wheat rusts strike on susceptible varieties at an early stage, Dusunceli said, almost the entire crop can be lost.

Dusunceli said that more could be done to reduce losses from rust this season, especially seeing as crops at higher altitudes and lower temperatures are still maturing. He explained, "Although in lowlands in warmer areas the crop has fully matured or has been harvested, in highland areas and more mountainous regions, including Central and West Asia, there is still a risk of outbreaks, but there is still time to reduce the losses from yellow rust especially."

World wheat belt regions under threat

According to a joint alert on www.rusttracker.org issued by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) and the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), "Conducive climatic conditions for rusts, especially yellow rust, are resulting in potentially serious outbreaks in the CWANA [Central and West Asia and North Africa] region. Cool and wet conditions have persisted in many countries from Morocco to Bhutan."

According to the report, yellow (stripe) rust in particular has been damaging on susceptible varieties in some parts of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, India, Iran, Iraq, Morocco, Pakistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan. Thankfully, a widespread epidemic (as occurred in 2010) appears to have been avoided; FAO said this was in part due to the progressive introduction of resistant cultivars, chemical control and warming weather conditions.

However, in some locations disease severities increased to high levels requiring fungicide applications. In Morocco, for instance, stripe rust was widespread in almost in all areas: 40 percent of fields surveyed registered a 50 percent or more severity, requiring fungicide applications.

Prevention, early warning and rapid response key

In addition to rolling out use of resistant cultivars and promoting early intervention, Dusunceli said monitoring for rusts on the ground, another key principle of disease control, must be improved. FAO has recently launched a pilot mobile phone surveillance system in Turkey, using smart phone and SMS reporting technology, in a bit to cut reporting times and improve tracking of the disease.

Commenting on the programme, Dusunceli said, "The information is now instantaneous and it is now funnelled directly into a database housed in the Agriculture Ministry. That data will give institutions the knowledge and early warning signs needed to react quickly."

Nevertheless, the FAO officer said that the emphasis of efforts to combat rusts is still placed firmly on prevention, by encouraging the development and planting of resistant cultivars, use of certified seed, rapid seed multiplication, training of farmers, strengthening surveillance and emergency response capacities and international cooperation. He said FAO is working to with a range of international partners to achieve its goals, but added that work and support will need to be maintained given the evolution of newer, virulent strains of wheat rust.

FAO summarised on Thursday, "Wheat rusts must be closely monitored as part of a global collective effort. To achieve sustained and improved productivity in wheat, increased investments are needed to support regional and international collaboration efforts to support integrated disease management in the regions often at risk of wheat rust epidemics, specifically in East and North Africa, the Near East and Central and South Asia."