It鈥檚 been a good year for Afghan farmers. Spring rains brought a , and the poppy harvest was all brought in because .
But looming on the border is another threat. Devastating Ug99 wheat rust, a virulent fungus that can wipe out an entire crop, may be about to enter the beleaguered country from Iran, agricultural scientists in Kabul warned last week.
Spores of the fungus have been spreading on the wind from Uganda, where the disease was first discovered in 1999 (hence 鈥淯g99鈥�), and reached the wheat fields of Iran two years ago. 鈥淣early all farmers in Afghanistan grow wheat for food or sale, says Mahmood Osmanzai, a scientist working for the (CIMMYT) in the country. The effects of a rust epidemic 鈥渨ould be economically far reaching,鈥� he says.
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The threat of Ug99 extends far beyond Afghanistan. Some 90 per cent of the world鈥檚 wheat is vulnerable, a conference earlier this year heard. But in Afghanistan it threatens US efforts to stabilise the nation.
The US special representative for Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, said last week that past efforts to eradicate the country鈥檚 profitable poppy crop had 鈥渄riven people into the hands of the Taliban鈥�. Now, he said, the money was being spent instead on agricultural assistance for food crops, including finding local wheat varieties resistant to Ug99. The aim is to make wheat more profitable than poppies. But if the fungus arrives first, those efforts could be wiped out.
