China Collaborates with Borlaug Global Rust Initiative

A technical workshop was held at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing to discuss measures to combat wheat rust.  It  was led by the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative, an international network established in 2005 to honor Norman Borlaug, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate. The aim is to reduce the dangers of wheat rust and promote the establishment of an international system that can be used to contain the disease, as well as to track the spread of Ug99, a devastating disease developed from a mutation of stem rust.

During the past seven years, the Initiative has developed strains of wheat that have the ability to resist the disease. Dave Hodson, an expert of the Initiative calls for a concerted effort to track the disease which could also affect China. He encouraged the use of cell phones and other mobile devices by farmers for this endeavor.

"If the wolf has to come, we'd better get prepared," says Kang Zhensheng, the head of a wheat lab from Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University of China. "We are breeding new Ug99-resistant wheat types, and cooperating with the Initiative to develop a surveillance system to track the disease."

The news can be seen at http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-08/31/content_15725652.htm.