ICARDA News

International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas

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E-mail: ICARDA@CGIAR.ORG
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15 April 2009
Media contact: icarda-media@cgiar.org
 
Global Rust Initiative: the war on Ug99 continues
Dr Norman Borlaug at the BGRI meeting, flanked by two Directors General: Drs Mahmoud Solh and Thomas Lumpkin.
The 2009 Technical Workshop of the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI) was held in Ciudad Obregón, Mexico, 17-20 March. The meeting focused on the progress made in developing durable resistance in wheat to black stem rust - particularly the new strain Ug99, which is spreading rapidly; already present in at least six countries, and threatening many others in West Asia, South Asia and North Africa. there were nearly 300 participants, from national research centers in Ethiopia, Kenya, Iran, Sudan, Uganda and Yemen, Egypt, India and Turkey; ICARDA, CIMMYT, FAO, Cornell University; as well as rust experts from advanced research institutions in USA, Europe and Australia.
The BGRI implements several projects supported by various donors, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, FAO, USAID, CIDA-Canada, and India. ICARDA is one of the principal participants in the BGRI, and a major part of our wheat improvement program is focused on combating rust diseases. The ICARDA delegation to the meeting included Dr Mahmoud Solh, Director General; Dr Maarten van Ginkel, DDG-Research; Dr Kamel Shideed, ADG-ICC; Dr Richard Brettell, Director, BIGM Program; and several other wheat scientists: Drs Osman Abdalla, Mesut Keser, Miloudi Nachit, Kumarse Nazari, Zewdie Bishaw Francis Ogbonnaya from ICARDA, and David Bedoshvili and Amor Yahyaoui, representing both ICARDA and CIMMYT.

The workshop began with a keynote address by Dr Norman Borlaug, Nobel laureate and Chair of the BGRI, who was witness to the devastating effects of wheat rust epidemics in many parts of the world in the 1940s and 1950s, and was instrumental in the widespread use of the durably resistant gene Sr2. Technical sessions provided opportunities to highlight work at ICARDA, which includes rust race analysis, surveillance, finding new sources of resistance, breeding rust-resistant varieties of bread and durum wheat, as well as seed multiplication of resistant varieties. Several ICARDA scientists made presentations on their work: disease surveillance and the international trap nursery for Ug99 (Dr Nazari); breeding for resistance to Ug99 (Dr Abdalla); biotechnology approaches to incorporate resistance genes from wild wheat relatives (Dr Ogbonnaya); and rapid, targeted seed multiplication (Dr Bishaw). The workshop participants also visited CIMMYT's research station in Obregón, a dry, high yield potential location close to the north-eastern coast where wheat is grown under fully irrigated conditions. The field visit was followed by a traditional Mexican barbecue (carne asada) in honor of Dr Borlaug, who has just celebrated his 95th birthday.

Three other meetings were held immediately preceding, or in parallel with, the Technical Workshop.

BGRI Executive Committee meeting, 18 March, attended by all major stakeholders. The key outputs include:
•
 Broadening membership of the Committee: the Indian Council of Agricultural Research is now a permanent member, and additional permanent members will be nominated from South America, and subsequently from other regions (Europe, North Africa).
•
 Advocacy efforts: the BGRI 2009 Technical Workshop received heavy media coverage, bringing worldwide publicity to the danger posed by stem rust. Such advocacy efforts are continuing.
•
 Coordination: ICARDA will host a meeting in July, which will take stock of all ongoing BGRI projects, identify research and funding gaps, areas of overlap or duplication of effort, and discuss ways to improve coordination (and targeting of available funds) among BGRI stakeholders.

Participants of the BGRI Technical Workshop visit wheat trials at CIMMYT's Obregón research station.
ICARDA-CIMMYT coordination meeting, 19 March, attended by both Directors General – Dr Mahmoud Solh of ICARDA and Dr Thomas Lumpkin of CIMMYT – and 30 staff from the two Centers. ICARDA and CIMMYT have a long-standing partnership, centered on the ICARDA-CIMMYT Wheat Improvement Program (ICWIP). Given the limitations of human and financial resources, this coordination meeting discussed specific steps for further strengthening this partnership: sharing resources more effectively, avoiding duplication of effort, and streamlining communications between scientists and management at both Centers. It was also agreed that henceforth, both Directors General will attend the annual ICWIP meetings.

Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat (DRRW) Project planning meeting, 21-22 March, to develop preliminary workplans for Phase II of the DRRW project. The current project (Phase I) runs from 2008 to 2010; it is the largest project under the BGRI, funded by the Gates Foundation, and was implemented in partnership with advanced research institutes as well as national centers in affected countries. Phase II aims to refocus these activities for a possible 5 year period, with additional resources going into seed multiplication and a new country-specific sub-project for Ethiopia.

The meetings were very successful in bringing together the key players – national programs, advanced research institutions and the CGIAR. But clearly there is a great deal of work still ahead of us – over 90% of the world's wheat varieties are susceptible to Ug99.

About ICARDA: Established in 1977, ICARDA (www.icarda.org) is one of the 15 international research centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). ICARDA serves the entire developing world for the improvement of barley, lentil, and faba bean; and dry-area developing countries for the on-farm management of water, improvement of nutrition and productivity of small ruminants (sheep and goats), and rehabilitation and management of rangelands. In the Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) region, ICARDA is responsible for the improvement of durum and bread wheats, chickpea, pasture and forage legumes and farming systems; and for the protection and enhancement of the natural resource base of water, land, and biodiversity.

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) (www.cgiar.org) is a strategic alliance of countries, international and regional organizations, and private foundations supporting15 international research centers that mobilizes cutting-edge science to promote sustainable development by reducing hunger and poverty, improving human nutrition and health, and protecting the environment.

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