Ug99, a virulent fungal disease, could create a major food security crisis by attacking the world's second largest crop, wheat. After the disease was discovered in Uganda in 1999, its spores took to the wind, hit fields in Kenya and Ethiopia, jumped the Red Sea to Yemen and turned up this year in Iran.
Kenya: Stalking A Wheat Killer
Published October 28, 2008
Project
As scientists make progress against Ug99, a fungus that threatens wheat crops worldwide, new methods to produce and distribute disease-resistant seeds must also be developed.
Ug99, a fungal disease known as wheat rust, could destroy 80 percent of all known wheat varieties. Scientists in Kenya's Rift Valley are joining a global fight against it.
Gateways
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Grantee
Through mid-2007, Sharon was a reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, most recently as a foreign correspondent. She currently writes for the innovative news site MinnPost.com. In 2003,...
