REGIONAL FOOD SECURITY SYMPOSIUM ON WHEAT STEM RUST

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 002135



SENSITIVE

SIPDIS



E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: EAGR, EAID, ECON, PREL, TBIO, AF, IN, PK, IR

SUBJ: Regional Food Security Symposium on Wheat Stem Rust



REF: Islamabad 1267



1. (U) Summary: The August 12-13 regional symposium on wheat stem

rust in Islamabad offered Pakistani scientists a rare opportunity to

focus international attention on Pakistan's need for greater

investment in agricultural research. A comprehensive wheat action

plan based on the symposium's recommendations is being prepared;

priority GOP approval is expected. Once approved, the U.S. team

will review the plan and identify areas where USG support might best

be leveraged. A major development was a report of a new, local

wheat rust strain in southern Pakistan that may be as virulent as

Ug99. If confirmed this would be devastating setback for the

international scientific coalition working to develop new

Ug99-resistant varieties. USDA will coordinate with Pakistan

scientists to send a sample of the new strain to the USDA Cereal

Rust Laboratory in Minnesota for definitive analysis. End Summary.



2. (U) Islamabad FAS and ECON, in collaboration with the United

States Department of Agriculture (USDA),the Pakistan National

Agriculture Research Council (NARC),the International Centre for

Wheat and Maize (CYMMIT),and the International Centre for

Agriculture Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) organized a regional food

security symposium on wheat stem rust in Islamabad on August 12-13.

Seventy five scientists from Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States,

Australia, Iran and the international Durable Rust Resistance in

Wheat Project (Gates Foundation) also participated in the symposium,

which focused on developing a near-term, practical action plan for

Pakistan and Afghanistan to protect wheat production from cereal

rust.



3. (U) Although active participants in the Green Revolution,

Pakistan scientists have been largely isolated from the

international agricultural scientific community for the past two

decades. Throughout the two-day event, Pakistan scientists made

repeated appeals for reengagement with the world agricultural

scientific community.



4. (U) This symposium was the first event organized under the Food

Security Tri-Lateral Working Group targeting increased agricultural

productivity. Officials from the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture had

agreed to participate; however, their travel was cancelled at the

last minute due to a GIRoA-imposed ban in the run-up to the August

20 presidential elections.



5. (U) Pakistani scientists believed it was important to invite

their counter-parts from Iran to the conference due to reported

incidences of Ug99 in that country. Although no Iranian government

officials accepted the invitation, two Iranian citizens did

participate, a representative from ICARDA (based in Aleppo, Syria)

and a representative from CYMMIT (based in Tehran, Iran). The

CYMMIT representative from Tehran engaged comfortably with USDA

officials, informing them that the spread of Ug99 in Iran has been

arrested by two-consecutive years of drought. Iranian government

scientists regularly participate in Ug99 events hosted by CYMMIT at

their headquarters in Mexico.



Background: What is Ug99 and Why is it a Threat?

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6. (U) Wheat stem rusts are fungal pathogens that can block grain

development and drastically reduce grain yield. Wheat breeders have

bred wheat varieties resistant to wheat stem rusts for over 60

years. A new rust strain, Ug99, which can defeat most stem rust

protective genes, appeared in East Africa in 1999 and made its way

through the horn of Africa and into Iran. More than 80 percent of

the world's wheat acreage is at risk from Ug99, including wheat

production in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the United States. The

United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has put

Pakistan and Afghanistan on high alert following a report that Ug99

black wheat stem rust has moved into Iran. The August 12-13

symposium launched a coordinated effort to combat this potential

threat to regional food security.



Strategies to Fight Ug99

--------------



7. (U) Scientists from the major wheat producing countries have

joined forces with the international wheat breeding centers, CIMMYT

(based in Mexico) and ICARDA (based in Syria) to develop new wheat



ISLAMABAD 00002135 002 OF 002





varieties with Ug99-resistant genes, some of which were provided to

countries near to Ug99-infected areas (including Pakistan) in 2009.

More thoroughly resistant varieties are being developed, but there

is concern Pakistan and Afghanistan (among other countries) are not

evaluating and adopting new Ug99-resistant varieties fast enough.



New Rust Variety Discovered in Pakistan?

--------------



8. (U) The two-day workshop included presentations by international

and Pakistan wheat improvement and cereal disease leaders, leaders

in wheat genetics, as well as diverse breeders and pathologists from

several provinces. Pakistani scientists reported a new, local wheat

rust strain in southern Pakistan that may be as virulent as Ug99.

This new strain reportedly killed the first field trial of CIMMYT's

new Ug99 resistant wheat varieties. If confirmed this would be

devastating setback for CIMMYT and the international scientific

coalition, including USDA's efforts to develop new Ug99-resistant

varieties. Although evidence of a new virulent rust strain was

troubling, most workshop participants concluded that a more thorough

assessment, according to world standards, must be done in the next

growing season.



9. (U) There was some dissent, however, among the Pakistani

scientific community about sending a sample of the putative new

strain to the USDA Cereal Rust Laboratory, St. Paul, Minnesota, for

definitive analysis (Note: The USDA lab is one of the few labs in

the world with the scientific expertise and authorization to work

with living rust samples. End Note). Many Pakistani scientists

dislike being overly dependent on the international centers, CIMMYT

and ICARDA, to develop their new wheat varieties and to analyze new

threats. They think that broad international use of common CIMMYT

varieties makes Pakistan vulnerable to new wheat disease threats.

As noted by ICARDA's Dr. A. Mujid, Pakistan could readily increase

wheat production by 200 percent (2 to 4.5 metric tons per hectare)

with a combination of improved seeds and adoption of better

agronomy/management practices by farmers. The Pakistani leaders

noted that over 60 percent of Pakistanis are farmers so increased

crop productivity would have a major impact. These concerns

underscored a common theme at the workshop that Pakistan needs to

strengthen its wheat improvement programs to increase wheat

productivity and protection.



Next Steps

--------------



10. (U) The GOP delegation is developing a wheat action plan and has

promised to share the plan with USDA/Islamabad. The USDA and USAID

Islamabad team also identified the following priority needs based on

recommendations from Pakistan and other international leaders: 1)

Surveillance/Monitoring/Cereal Rust Expertise; 2) Plant Breeding

Program; 3) Seed Program; 4) Agronomic practices; and 5)Extension

Hubs. Following receipt of the Pakistan plan, the USG team will

identify those areas where USG support could be best leveraged.



PATTERSON