Rapid progress has been made towards the goal of establishing a Global Cereal Rust Monitoring System. The system has reached the point where it can now be regarded as a fully operational global disease monitoring system. Creation of a functional surveillance and monitoring network, covering 35 countries and a large proportion of the developing world wheat area is seen as a significant achievement. Through this network it has been possible to track the spread and status of important stem rust races such as those within the ?Ug99 race group". New technologies are playing an increasingly important role in rust tracking. These are already having an impact in several different areas from survey data collection to pathogen diagnostics and their role is likely to increase in the future. A robust and functional data management system - the Wheat Rust Toolbox - is now in place. This includes extensive rust surveillance and race databases and a suite of dynamic visualization tools. New web resources are providing access to a wealth of information regarding rust surveillance and monitoring in ways not previously possible. Global collaboration is ensuring that key databases are shared and being integrated into different information platforms. Despite good progress, several areas are seen as priorities for further work. These include: expansion of the data management system, increased information relating to host genotypes and rust resistance genes, early warning systems and disease mitigation planning. Activities are planned in the near future in all these areas.

Research and Partnership Program|Socioeconomics Program

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INT2550|INT3032|CPKO01|CPAU01

CIMMYT Staff Publications Collection