Scientists Say Without Adequate Funding, Deadly Wheat Disease Could Threaten World's Food Supply

A global team led by researchers from the University of Minnesota warns that decreasing financial support for research and new strains of deadly viruses could threaten the world's food supply, leaving millions without access to affordable food. This warning was included in a new paper from a study that examined how Ug99 could continue its movement across Africa, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia.

Despite the development of disease-resistant wheat in the past half century, which helped ensure steady world food supplies, new virulent forms of stem rust could threaten food supply for millions of people who depend on wheat. A number of projects are developing resistance to Ug99, including the international consortium known as the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative, a five-year effort funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Collaborators of the consortium include the University of Minnesota's Stakman-Borlaug Cereal Rust Center; the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Canberra, Australia; the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico; and universities in South Africa and Australia.

For more about this initiative, read the news release available at http://www1.umn.edu/news/news-releases/2013/UR_CONTENT_439411.html.