Stem rust on wheat caused by race Ug99 and its variants is currently spreading across Africa, Asia and the Middle East and is causing major concern due to the large numbers of people dependent on wheat for sustenance. The strain was named after the country where it was identified (Uganda) and the year of its discovery (1999). It spread to Kenya, then Ethiopia, Sudan and Yemen, and is becoming more virulent as it spreads. Scientists are working on breeding strains of wheat that are resistant to UG99. However, wheat is grown in a broad range of environments. This means that breeding programs would have extensive work remaining to get resistance into regionally adapted germplasms even after resistance is identified.

Below is link to different tools that analyse and display information about the historical and current distribution and importance of stem rust, leaf rust and yellow rust - mainly in Africa/Central and West Asia. Use the link below the Screen dumps or select from the menu to the left. The tools are integrated in an IPM context on RustTracker.

For further information see RustTracker and Globalrust.org