Cornell Gets US$ 26 Million for Wheat Plague Research

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded Cornell University a $26.8 million grant to set up a broad-based global partnership to combat the stem rust, a deadly wheat disease that seriously threatens global food security. The new rust strain, UG99, was first detected in Uganda in 1999 and has recently been found in Yemen and Iran. There is a high possibility of the rust spreading to nearby wheat-growing countries of Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. According to scientists, more than 90 percent of the wheat varieties planted around the world are susceptible to Ug99.

Fifteen research institutions, including the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Area (ICARDA), will work together for the Cornell-based Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat project. The program will enlist the Ethiopian Institute for Agricultural Research and the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute as the key research sites to develop UG99-resistant wheat varieties. The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization will also be involved in the project.

 For more information visit http://www.wheatrust.cornell.edu/ and http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/April08/wheat.rust.lm.html