Jointly organized training workshop on wheat rust diseases brings together experts and junior scientists

Photo: ©ICARDA/Kiarash Nazari.

18/05/2022

Izmir, Turkey – Wheat is the world’s most widely grown crop and a source of food and livelihoods for over 1 billion people in many developing countries. Historically speaking, the biggest threat to wheat is rust diseases. The frequency, extent and impact of these diseases have increased considerably over the last two decades, triggering global concern for food security. The causal fungi spread rapidly over large distances by wind, and can wreak havoc on crops if not tackled properly when first detected. In addition, most wheat varieties are vulnerable to rust diseases as the associated fungi have high capacity to develop new races which can break down resistance of varieties. Although rusts affect all wheat-producing areas, the Central Asia and Caucasus regions are among the most vulnerable.

In recognition of these facts, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Turkey jointly organized a training workshop, held in Izmir on 8–17 May 2022. The “Training workshop on cereal rust surveillance, race analysis and management of wheat rust diseases in Central Asia and Caucasus” was organized with support from the FAO-Turkey Partnership Programme on Food and Agriculture (FTPP II), and brought together experts from international organizations with junior scientists from countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus to enhance national capacities to prevent and manage wheat rust diseases. The training workshop explained the importance of regional collaboration for the management of wheat rusts and the role of the Regional Cereal Rust Research Centre located in İzmir, Turkey.. Particularly, The workshop provided the trainees with the principles and techniques for wheat rust surveillance and management, and allowed them to present up-to-date information from their respective countries (Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkey) on the status of wheat rust diseases . The participants had an opportunity to discuss policy options to effectively monitor, prevent and manage cereal pests and diseases in the region, and were also given the opportunity to visit wheat research fields and laboratory facilities to observe wheat rust diseases and related research.

During the opening session, Ali Peksüslü, the Director of Aegean Agricultural Research Institute (AARI), introduced the institute and described its main activities. Suat Kaymak, Head of Plant Health Department of the General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies (GDAR/TAGEM), then shared statistical information on global and domestic (Turkey) wheat production, and highlighted concerns about wheat production linked to conflicts and climate change. Suat Yılmaz, Head of the Field Crops Research Department at TAGEM, emphasized that the threat posed by cereal rust diseases for wheat is as serious as the dangers posed by the COVID-19 pandemic for humanity. Mesut Keser, ICARDA Representative in Turkey, explained that tackling rust diseases requires relevant infrastructure, science-based work and efficient regional cooperation.

Burak Güresinli, EU expert at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, underlined the importance of the FAO-Turkey partnership programme (FTPP II) and noted that Turkey was among the first 15 countries to provide financial contribution to FAO. Güresinli also affirmed that the CAC-Rust project is a featured project of FTPP II. Ayşegül Selışık, FAO Turkey Assistant Representative, explained that FAO has established specific strategic objectives to improve the sustainability and resilience of production systems by focusing on four betters: better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life. Selışık also emphasized the importance of the FAO-Turkey Partnership Programme and FAO’s work in Turkey for developing regional collaboration in areas such as wheat rust diseases management.

International collaboration and continuous surveillance is key to combating the disease at regional and global levels

The technical sessions started with a presentation by Fazil Dusunceli of the FAO Subregional Office for Central Asia on the project “Strengthening regional collaboration and national capacities for management of wheat rust diseases and resistance breeding in Central Asia and the Caucasus (CAC-Rust)”. Dusunceli confirmed FAO’s continued regional support for wheat rust work in the context of the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI) and detailed the objectives and planned activities of the project. He also emphasized the importance of collaboration and knowledge exchange among countries in the region for effective management of these diseases.

As coordinator of the Turkey-ICARDA Regional Cereal Rust Research Centre (RCRRC), ICARDA expert Kumarse Nazari provided an outline of the training programme and delivered a number of technical seminars focusing on techniques in surveillance, sampling, sample preparation and conservation and breeding for resistant varieties. He also provided details of methods employing race analysis and screening for resistance under field conditions. Nazari explained the work and role of the centre in monitoring and management of wheat rust diseases in the region, and also highlighted the need for capacity building of national institutions. Nazari then gave the trainees a guided tour of the laboratories and field facilities of the centre. Wuletaw Tadesse Degu from the ICARDA Morocco office presented the spring breeding programme of the Centre highlighting the focus on biotic and abiotic stresses.

The Aarhus University Global Rust Reference Centre (Denmark) expert Mogens Hovmollergave an online lecture on rust race distribution globally, and CIMMYT experts from the offices in Turkey (Beyhan Akin), Mexico (David Hodson) and Kenya (Sridar Bhavani) made presentations on wheat breeding, global rust surveillance and CIMMYT’s work on rusts, respectively.

The workshop underlined the importance of surveillance, regional collaboration, capacity building of national institutions and information exchange among the countries. In this respect, the opportunities provided by the CAC-Rust project were appreciated by the trainees and all participants. The training workshop ended with the distribution of certificates to the participants.

About the FAO-Turkey Partnership Programmes

The objectives of the FAO-Turkey Partnership Programmes are to provide support to ensure food security, rural poverty reduction and sustainable forest management; combat desertification; and preserve ecosystems in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, and other countries of mutual interest.

Established in 2007, the first phase of the FAO Turkey Partnership Programme on Food and Agriculture (FTPP) has benefited from trust fund contributions totalling USD 10 million, financed by the Government of Turkey and represented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. During the first phase of the programme, 28 projects were implemented in 16 countries between 2009 and 2015.

In 2014, Turkey and FAO commenced the second phase of the FTPP along with the first phase of the FAO-Turkey Forestry Partnership Programme (FTFP) with additional funding of USD 20 million, bringing Turkey’s total contribution to USD 30 million.

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