July 1, 2011: Iran rust survey summary – Yellow rust predominates, leaf and stem rust present at low levels

Posted on by June 26, 2012

Wheat rust surveys were undertaken by staff from the Iranian Seed and Plant Improvement Institute (SPII) during May 2011. Coverage of most of the major wheat growing areas in Iran was achieved, with a total of 36 sites surveyed using standard BGRI survey methodology. Yellow rust predominated, being recorded at 29 of the sites visited. The disease was widely distributed, being recorded in most of the survey areas. However severity levels were generally low, only 2 sites recorded high severity (>40%) of disease.

Leaf rust was recorded at 10 of the site visited, the distribution covered most of the areas but the severity was low (<20%) at all sites.

Stem rust was only recorded at 4 sites and all had low severity (<20%) of disease. The distribution matched that of the previous year, with reports coming from the Caspian Sea area and the west.

June 30, 2011: Morocco rust survey summary – Leaf rust and yellow rust predominate

Posted on by June 26, 2012

Extensive surveys were carried out by Dr Ramdani, the INRA cereal pathologist, during the second fortnight of April and the first week of May 2011. The surveys covered the major wheat growing areas and were conducted when the growth stage of wheat ranged from anthesis to physiological maturity. The data recorded were host species and its growth stage, visual assessment of grain yield and incidence and severity of the main diseases. A total of 79 fields of bread wheat and 22 fields of durum wheat were inspected. The covered areas were Gharb, Middle Atlas, Pré-Rif, Saïs, tadla, Zaïr, Zemmour, High Atlas, and Oasis. Yellow rust was detected on 70% of inspected fields of bread wheat whilst it was almost absent on durum. In contrast, leaf rust was detected on 65 and 73% of inspected fields of bread and durum respectively. Traces of Stem rust were detected on bread wheat at Marchouch experimental station (ZAIR) and on both wheats at CRRA Meknès experimental station (SAIS).

Despites the wide occurrence of leaf rust on both host species, their severity was low on the majority of fields. Traces were detected on 56 and 45% of bread and durum fields respectively. Yellow rust that was detected in all inspected areas was relatively more severe than leaf rust but its severity didn’t exceed 5% on 35% of inspected fields.

June 30, 2011: Pakistan rust survey summary – All three rusts recorded, stem rust only in Sindh province, yellow rust in the Northern plains and leaf rust widely distributed

Posted on by June 28, 2012

Photo Credit: Dr M. Hussain

Extensive wheat rust surveys were undertaken by several research institutes in Pakistan during March to May 2011. The surveys covered all the major wheat growing areas from Sindh province in the south to the northern plains. A total of 56 unique sites were surveyed using standard BGRI methodology. Multiple records were obtained from several sites, resulting in a total of 101 rust observations. All three rusts were observed on the survey, but the spatial distribution was characteristically different for each species.

Stem rust was observed at 8 of the individual sites visited. All these sites were clustered in the south of Sindh province. Samples were collected and subsequent race analysis should determine which races are present. All previous samples collected from these areas have been typed as race RRTTF.

Yellow rust was recorded at 22 individual sites. The majority of these were clustered in the Northern plain areas. High or moderate severity (>20%) of diseases was recorded at 8 of the sites surveyed. All bar one of these sites were located in the northern areas between Lahore and Islamabad.

Leaf rust was recorded at 26 individual sites. Records were distributed throughout the areas surveyed. The majority of records related to low severity (1-20%) of disease. Only 5 sites recorded high severity (>40%) of disease.

June 20, 2011: Syria rust survey summary – Only yellow rust recorded on survey

Posted on by June 26, 2012

Wheat rust surveys were undertaken throughout the wheat growing regions of Syria during May 2011. A total of 66 sites were surveyed using standard BGRI survey methodology. These surveys coordinated by ICARDA followed the major yellow rust epidemics observed in 2010. Disease pressure was not as high as the previous year, but yellow rust totally dominated the surveys, being the only rust recorded.  Yellow rust was found on 46 of the fields surveyed. The disease was widely distributed, but highest levels of incidence and severity were recorded in the Northern areas adjacent to the Turkish border.

June 20, 2011: Nepal rust survey summary – Yellow rust widely distributed, leaf rust more localized

Posted on by June 27, 2012

Extensive wheat rust surveys were undertaken by several research institutes in Nepal during March to May 2011. The Central wheat growing areas from the lowlands to mid-hills were covered by the survey teams. A total of 71 sites were surveyed using standard BGRI survey methodology. yellow rust predominated on the surveys, being recorded at 49 of the sites visited. Severity of yellow rust recorded was quite high as 80% of the fields with yellow rust had moderate or high (>20%) severity ratings. Yellow rust was distributed throughout the survey areas.

Leaf rust was recorded at 13 sites, with more than 50% of these sites reporting moderate or high severity (>20%). Leaf rust was dispersed throughout the survey areas, although there did appear some concentration of observations in the Kathmandu Valley area.

Only one record of stem rust was reported, late in the season at the NARC Khumaltar Research Station in Kathmandu.

May 30, 2011: Bangladesh rust survey summary – Leaf rust widespread, especially in the North-west

Posted on by June 26, 2012

Photo Credit: R.F. Park

Extensive wheat rust surveys were coordinated by the BARI Wheat Research Center, Dinajpur and undertaken in collaboration several Regional Agricultural Research Stations (Jessore, Jamalpur, Ishurdi, Rajshahi). The surveys were undertaken in Feb-March 2011 and covered all the main wheat growing areas in Bangladesh. A total of 156 sites were surveyed using standard BGRI survey methodology. leaf rust was the only rust disease recorded on the survey, being present at 56 of the sites surveyed. Highest incidence and severity of leaf rust was observed in the North-west region of Bangladesh, although another hot-spot was also present around Ishurdi in west-central Bangladesh.

May 1, 2011: Egypt rust survey summary – Leaf rust predominates, traces of yellow rust, but stem rust absent

Posted on by June 26, 2012

Wheat rust surveys were undertaken during the period mid February to the end of April 2011. The surveys covered the wheat growing areas of the Nile Valley from Aswan to the Delta. A total of 32 wheat fields were surveyed using standard BGRI survey methodology. Stem rust was absent in all the fields surveyed. Leaf rust was widespread and the predominant rust recorded on the survey. Leaf rust was observed in 90% of the fields visited, but mainly the disease was at low severity. Only 4 fields (all in the Delta) were observed to have high disease severity (>40%). Yellow rust was only observed in trace amounts. Only 2 fields were recorded with the disease, one of which had high severity.

April 26, 2011: Stem rust widespread in the highlands and west of Yemen

Posted on by April 3, 2012

Yemen: Wheat rust surveys undertaken by AREA, Yemen in the key wheat growing areas of the country during October 2010 to March 2011 revealed stem rust to be widespread in the highlands and western areas, but absent in the eastern regions around Seiyun. Of the 33 fields surveyed in the highlands and west of the country in October 2010, stem rust was recorded in 27 (82%) of the fields. Disease severity was high to moderate (>20%) in 13 fields. In contrast stem rust was completely absent from the eastern regions around Seiyun in surveys undertaken in Feb-Mar 2011. Stem rust races present in Yemen during 2010/11 are currently unknown, but samples are undergoing analysis.

April 5, 2011: Ug99 lineage races TTKSK (Ug99), TTKST (Ug99+Sr24) and TTTSK (Ug99+Sr36) confirmed in Tanzania

Posted on by April 3, 2012

Three variants in the Ug99 lineage have been confirmed in stem rust samples collected in Tanzania during August 2009 by a team of Tanzanian and international scientists. Races confirmed by the USDA-ARS Cereal Disease Laboratory, St. Paul, MN, USA were; TTKSK (Ug99), TTKST (Sr24 variant of Ug99) and TTTSK (Sr36 variant of Ug99). Races TTKSK and TTTSK were present in samples from the Hanang, and Ngorongoro areas, whilst race TTKST was present in the Karatu and Monduli areas (Lowe et al forthcoming). All three races have been present in neighbouring Kenya since 2001, 2006, and 2007 respectively. Given the close proximity of wheat areas in Kenya and Uganda known to be infected by stem rust Ug99, and observed regional wind patterns, the results from Tanzania are not unexpected. No crop damage was observed in Tanzania in 2009 due to stem rust. A combination of effective chemical control and early senescence due to drought resulted in the majority of wheat fields surveyed being rust-free apart from a few isolated infected plants. These confirmed results support previous findings which indicate the expected and continued regional spread of Ug99 variants out of Kenya.

Dec. 30, 2010: Ethiopia rust survey summary – SERIOUS YELLOW RUST EPIDEMIC

Posted on by June 28, 2012

Widely grown cultivars in Ethiopia – Galema and Kubsa  – suffered a serious yellow rust epidemic in the 2010 main season. Official estimates indicated that over 500,000 ha of wheat were affected. Conducive environmental conditions which permitted early infection, coupled to high susceptibility of these major cultivars were the major drivers. Both cultivars are known to carry the Yr27 gene.

Extensive wheat rust surveys were undertaken by staff  from 12 different institutes throughout Ethiopia. These surveys were coordinated by Dr Getaneh Woldeab of the EIAR Ambo Research Station. A total of 1084 sites were surveyed, with all the major wheat growing areas covered by the surveys. Conditions were extremely favourable for rust development in general, but yellow rust completely dominated. Yellow rust was recorded at 590 sites and more than 50% of these had either moderate or high severity (>20%) of disease. High incidence and severity of disease (>40%) was recorded at approximately 200 of the sites surveyed. Yellow rust was extremely widespread, covering all the major wheat growing areas except the northern areas of Tigray.

Stem rust and leaf rust were recorded in approximately equal proportions on the survey. Stem rust was recorded at 298 sites and leaf rust at 278 sites. For both diseases the majority of records were of low disease severity (1-20%). Stem rust was concentrated in the southern areas, south of Addis Ababa. Leaf rust was much more widely distributed occurring throughout the wheat growing areas of Ethiopia. It was the most common rust recorded in the northern areas of Tigray.