Story
November 18, 2008
Disease Destroys Crops on Small Farms; Profits on Large Farms
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Project
Stalking a Wheat Killer
Ug99, a virulent fungal disease, could create a major food security crisis by attacking the world's...
Kenyan farmers who can not afford pesticides watched wheat whither in the fields as a new strain of stem rust drained the plants of nutrients. Now families who counted on the wheat for a living are begging friends for loans and selling the last of their hens to buy beans, corn and other bare essentials. On larger farms, chemicals helped to control the disease which slowly is spreading beyond Kenya. Still, profits and yields dropped dramatically.
