stem rust. Almunge, Sweden 2017. (Credit: Anna Berlin, SLU)
Scientists at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) are reporting that stem rust has returned to Sweden. In a recently released press release, lead researcher Anna Berlin from the Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology outlines an unusually intense stem rust attack in wheat fields in Almunge, Uppland in the summer of 2017. The last major stem rust outbreak reported from Sweden was in 1951, so this latest outbreak and the initial indications that it is a sexual population emerging from barberry is a major cause for concern.
Full details of the report from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) can be found at: