---IRAQ - Wheat Rust Infection Fears!!!/Killer Fungus---

BAGHDAD, 10 August 2010 (IRIN) - More than a tenth of Iraq’s 2009-2010 wheat crop has been infected by a killer fungus, according to authorities.

While the strain of wheat rust is not as virulent as the mutant Ug99, infection rates have climbed steeply since last year because of warmer weather and higher temperatures, said Hameed Mohammed Jawad, head of the Agriculture Ministry’s crops protection department.

“We don’t have a final percentage for the damage wheat rust caused last season, but preliminary information indicates it hit at least 10-15 percent of Iraq’s wheat crops,” he added.

Wheat stem rust, also known as wheat black rust, can destroy entire fields and even whole crops. The pathogen enters the stems of the plant and destroys the vascular tissue. There are three types of rust that can harm wheat, but stem rust, of which Ug99 is a variant, is the most feared as few wheat varieties have any resistance to it.

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[link to www.irinnews.org]