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SPECTRE IS HAUNTING THE WORLD’S WHEAT
FARMERS, AND ITS NAME IS UG99.
Spread by spores that can cross oceans, Ug99 is the
latest mutation of a crop disease called stem rust that has been
feared throughout history. Known since ancient times, it was
considered a curse in what is now Israel. To the Romans, it was a
deity to be appeased with sacrifices and processions, lest their
crops be destroyed.
The new strain was discovered in Uganda in 1999, and
gained virulence as it spread up and down the east coast of
Africa. It then jumped the Red Sea to Yemen, and continued on
to Iran. It’s even been found as far away as Australia, after winds
carried the tiny spores all the way from southern Africa.
Tom Fetch is a Winnipeg-based Agriculture and Agri-Food
Canada (AAFC) scientist specializing in stem rust pathology. He
has studied Ug99 for the past decade, and said the arrival of
the fungus in Canada’s grain belt looks almost inevitable.
“We think it’s more a matter of when it will get here, rather
than if it will,” he said.
While Ug99 could arrive in Canada thanks to a hapless
tourist coming home from safari, Fetch said, it’s most likely to
arrive by natural—and more indirect—means. Like other fungal
crop diseases before it, spores could blow from South Africa
to South America. And once it makes landfall in the Americas,
Fetch said, it’s just a matter of time before it appears in a field
near you.
“If it gets to South America, then it’s likely a matter of three to
five years before it gets to Canada,” he said.
Such an outbreak would not be a new experience for
Canada. Similar outbreaks occurred in 1919 and 1935. Then,
in the early 1950s, a new strain of stem rust called 15B swept
across the Canadian Prairies in epidemic levels. It spoiled some
eight million tonnes of wheat, accounting for around 40 per
cent of the total crop.
Spring
2014
Grains
West
42
NEXT
STOP:
Ug99wheat rust is marching our way. Shouldwe be scared?
BY JEFF DAVIS • PHOTOGRAPHY BY TOM FETCH
Feature
CANADA