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ICARDA
and CIMMYT Harnessing the Power of Partnership in Wheat Improvement |
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The Role of "Traveling Workshops" and Disease Surveys While host-plant resistance is the most effective and least costly component of an integrated disease management program, well-trained national scientists and educated farmers are the most effective route to a locally sustainable wheat production system. This is why "traveling workshops" are part of the annual disease surveys in Central and West Asia. The workshops bring researchers from national and international research programs together to assess farmers' fields, evaluate specialized disease-diagnosis nurseries, and also to exchange views with farmers, farm managers, seed providers, and scientists at experiment stations. As well as discussing methods for undertaking on-farm disease assessments, researchers give seminars on their recent findings and make recommendations on the appropriate use of fungicides. They give advice on better ways of using and disseminating new sources of resistance, both within countries and across the region.
In Iran, workshop participants learned that the widely grown variety 'Sabalan' had become susceptible to a new race of yellow rust, and that two genes commonly used to confer resistance (Yr8 and Yr1) were no longer effective. In Azerbaijan, the survey found that yellow rust had reached epidemic levels at some sites. It was especially deadly for the cultivar 'Mirbashir.' 'Gobustan,' a cultivar selected from the ICARDA/CIMMYT spring wheat breeding program, is now being multiplied for release as it provides resistance to yellow rust at all sites. This cultivar is much needed in Azerbaijan, as only 4 of 67 commercial varieties tested for resistance to yellow rust proved resistant across all testing sites. Other major fungal diseases observed in the survey were scab, septoria leaf blotch and tan spot. In Uzbekistan, the survey found that in the case of a yellow rust epidemic, fungicide would have to be applied to about 75% of the wheat-growing area. In Kazakhstan, yellow rust moved from the south to the north. Fungal spores survived because of the presence of wheat crops of different ages, which acted as "stepping stones" for the infection to progress across the country. In Kyrgyzstan, yellow rust infection was also very severe, and a broad range of virulence was detected. All of these findings underscore the seriousness of the yellow rust problem in this region and highlight the importance of collaborative research to reduce its impact on livelihoods and the environment. Changes in the virulence of the yellow rust fungus can have a devastating effect and virulence for a number of wheat resistance genes have already been found in the country. The Plant Genetics Institute in Azerbaijan has assigned a researcher to study virulence in greater depth, using wheat seedlings raised under controlled environmental conditions. |
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