Yellow Rust and Stem Rust Resistant wheat

Rust-Resistant Wheat for a Flourishing Future

The rust-resistant wheat varieties are specifically developed to combat wheat rust. They are equipped with two types of resistance genes. The first type, All-stage resistance (ASR) genes, provide strong protection from specific rust fungi during all developmental stages of the plant. However, if only a single ASR gene is deployed, the fungi can evolve to overcome this protection. The second type, Adult plant resistance (APR) genes, provide partial resistance during the later development stages of the plant. APRs can confer longer resistance without developing pathogen evolution and can provide broad-spectrum resistance to all rust fungi races. By combining ASR and APR genes, wheat varieties can achieve a more effective and long-lasting resistance against rust.

This technology is TAAT1 validated.

7•7

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 7/9; level of use 7/9

Project adoption

The technology has been integrated in the TAISP project in the region East Africa (Tanzania), and in the PUPSAN project in the region West Africa (Mali).

PUPSAN – Mali: 6,444 wheat producers, with 30% of seeds specifically allocated to women; 20% to youth and 10% to internally displaced persons (IDPs)
TAISP – Tanzania: Approximately 600,000 wheat farmers, with 40% of beneficiaries being women and youth

PUPSAN – Mali: USD 7.04M
TAISP – Tanzania: USD ~84.07M

PUPSAN – Mali: (Mali): Aug 2022 – Dec 2023
TAISP – Tanzania: Sep 2022 – Jun 2025

PUPSAN – Mali: Targeted wheat yield increase from 3.008 t/ha to 3.20 t/ha; additional production of 644.4 tonnes attributed to project interventions
TAISP – Tanzania: Supports yield increase from 1.5 t/ha to 3.0 t/ha; contributes to national production growth from 70,000 MT to 500,000 MT; creates 10,000 youth jobs in the seed, fertilizer, and value chain activities

See project details ›

4.1 Ton/ha

average grain yield

440 USD

Total farming operational costs

Problem

Yellow Rust and Stem Rust Epidemics: Yellow rust and stem rust are destructive diseases that cause significant yield losses (50-90%) and can rapidly devastate wheat crops in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Quick Spread of Rust Diseases: These diseases spread rapidly through wind-borne spores, leading to massive losses, as exemplified by the highly virulent African strain of stem rust, Ug99.
Emergence of New Rust Strains: There is a continuous emergence of new strains of rust diseases, making it challenging to control them effectively.
Infections in Native Grasses: Rust diseases can infect native grasses, making it difficult to eradicate them from agricultural landscapes.

Solution

All-Stage Resistance (ASR): These genes provide strong, race-specific protection against rust fungi at all developmental stages of the plant.
Adult Plant Resistance (APR): These genes offer partial resistance during the later stages of the plant’s development. They can confer longer-lasting resistance and provide broad-spectrum protection against all races of rust fungi.
High Yield Potential: Despite the resistance to rust, these varieties maintain a high yield potential, which is crucial for ensuring food security.
Disease Resistance: In addition to rust resistance, these varieties often have resistance to other diseases, enhancing their overall robustness.
Tolerance to Environmental Stresses: These varieties are often bred to be tolerant to various environmental stresses such as drought, further enhancing their resilience.

Key points to design your business plan

Seed multipliers:

Integrating rust-resistant wheat varieties into a business plan in Africa involves several key steps:

Partnership Building: Establish partnerships with research institutions, local agricultural departments, and farmer groups. This helps in accessing the latest rust-resistant varieties and understanding the local farming context.
Capacity Building: Invest in training for staff on the benefits, management, and multiplication of rust-resistant wheat varieties.
Variety Selection: Choose the most suitable rust-resistant varieties based on local climate, soil conditions, and farmer preferences.
Seed Multiplication: Plan for the multiplication of seeds of the selected varieties. This involves setting up a seed multiplication farm or partnering with local farmers.
Quality Control: Implement rigorous quality control measures to ensure the purity and health of the multiplied seeds.
Distribution and Marketing: Develop a distribution network and marketing strategy to reach the target farmers. This could involve partnerships with local agro-dealers.
Monitoring and Evaluation: Regularly monitor and evaluate the business performance and impact on farmers. This helps in making necessary adjustments.
Cost Estimation: Estimate the costs involved in each step and develop a financial plan. This includes costs for seed multiplication, quality control, distribution, marketing, and monitoring.

These steps require careful planning and organization. The exact logistics and costs would depend on the specific context and scale of the business.

For resellers

Integrating rust-resistant wheat varieties into a business plan for a seed reseller in Africa involves several key steps:

Partnership Building: Establish partnerships with research institutions, seed multipliers, and farmer groups. This helps in accessing the latest rust-resistant varieties and understanding the local farming context.
Stock Planning: Plan the stock of rust-resistant wheat varieties based on the demand forecast. This involves understanding the local market needs and farmer preferences.
Quality Assurance: Implement quality assurance measures to ensure the seeds’ health and genetic purity. This may involve partnerships with seed testing laboratories.
Distribution and Logistics: Develop a robust distribution network to reach the target farmers. This could involve partnerships with local agro-dealers and logistics companies.
Marketing and Promotion: Develop a marketing strategy to promote the benefits of rust-resistant varieties. This could involve field demonstrations, farmer meetings, and promotional campaigns.
Customer Support: Provide support to farmers in the form of agronomic advice and after-sales service. This helps in building trust with the farmers and promoting the adoption of rust-resistant varieties.
Cost Estimation: Estimate the costs involved in each step and develop a financial plan. This includes costs for stock procurement, quality assurance, distribution, marketing, and customer support.

For Farmers

For wheat farmers in Africa to integrate rust-resistant varieties into their business plan, they would need to consider the following steps:

Education and Training: Farmers need to understand the benefits and management of rust-resistant wheat varieties. This could involve attending training sessions or workshops organized by agricultural institutions or extension services.
Variety Selection: Farmers should choose the most suitable rust-resistant varieties based on their local climate, soil conditions, and market demand. This might require consultation with agricultural experts or extension officers.
Seed Procurement: Farmers need to plan for the procurement of seeds of the selected varieties. This could involve purchasing seeds from certified seed companies or participating in seed exchange programs.
Field Management: Farmers need to plan for the cultivation of the rust-resistant varieties. This includes preparing the land, sowing the seeds, managing pests and diseases, and harvesting the crop.
Marketing and Sales: Farmers need to develop a strategy for selling their produce. This could involve selling directly to consumers, to local markets, or to grain aggregators.
Cost Estimation and Financial Planning: Farmers need to estimate the costs involved in each step and develop a financial plan. This includes costs for seed procurement, field management, and marketing.

These steps require careful planning and organization. The exact logistics and costs would depend on the specific context and scale of the farm.

Adults 18 and over: Positive high

The poor: Positive medium

Under 18: Positive low

Women: Positive medium

Climate adaptability: Highly adaptable

Farmer climate change readiness: Significant improvement

Biodiversity: Positive impact on biodiversity

Carbon footprint: A bit less carbon released

Environmental health: Greatly improves environmental health

Soil quality: Improves soil health and fertility

Water use: Much less water used

Scaling Readiness describes how complete a technology’s development is and its ability to be scaled. It produces a score that measures a technology’s readiness along two axes: the level of maturity of the idea itself, and the level to which the technology has been used so far.

Each axis goes from 0 to 9 where 9 is the “ready-to-scale” status. For each technology profile in the e-catalogs we have documented the scaling readiness status from evidence given by the technology providers. The e-catalogs only showcase technologies for which the scaling readiness score is at least 8 for maturity of the idea and 7 for the level of use.

The graph below represents visually the scaling readiness status for this technology, you can see the label of each level by hovering your mouse cursor on the number.

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 7 out of 9

Semi-controlled environment: prototype

Level of use 7 out of 9

Common use by projects NOT connected to technology provider

Maturity of the idea										Level of use
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Tanzania Agricultural Inputs Support Project (TAISP)

Project funder: African Development Fund (ADF) and Government of Tanzania; JICA co-financing interest
Planned Budget: UA 62.27 million (~USD 84.07 million)
Location:
- Wheat: Arusha, Manyara, Mbeya, Rukwa, Kilimanjaro, Njombe
- Sunflower: Singida, Manyara, Arusha, Rukwa, Dodoma, Morogoro, Songwe
- Rice: Shinyanga, Mwanza, Simiyu, Geita (Lake Zone corridor)
Planned duration: Sep 2022 – Jun 2025
Deployment means: E-voucher subsidies for seeds/fertilizers, extension training on GAP, electronic tagging for seed quality control
Project main implementer: Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), United Republic of Tanzania
Project Description: Rapid multiplication and distribution of climate-adapted certified seeds (wheat, sunflower, rice), provision of subsidized fertilizers, and support for smallholder adoption to address food security and climate challenges
Objective: Improve production, productivity, and profitability of priority crops by scaling affordable, high-quality inputs to smallholders
Expected outcome: Wheat yields 1.5 → 3 t/ha, rice 2 → 3 t/ha; additional 1 million MT of food; post-harvest losses reduced from 30% to 15%
Figures of adoption: 1,200,000 smallholder households targeted; distribution of 7,200 MT wheat seeds, 5,600 MT sunflower seeds, 16,000 MT rice seeds; 600,000 MT fertilizer delivered
Profiles of adopters: Smallholder farmers (avg. 2 ha), 40% women and youth, 1,000 small/medium seed producers, 10,000 unemployed youth engaged in value chains
Lessons learnt:
- Success Factors: Digital e-vouchers ensure transparency; private sector engagement via agro-dealers; scaling of TAAT-proven varieties
- Constraints: High fuel and fertilizer prices due to international conflict and climate-induced stresses

Projet d'Urgence de Production et de Sécurite Alimentaire & Nutritionnelle (PUPSAN/AEFPF)

Project funder: African Development Bank (AfDB) Group – Transition Support Facility (TSF) loan and grant
Planned Budget: USD 7.040 million
Location: Republic of Mali
Planned duration: 2022–2024
Deployment means: Distribution of certified seeds and subsidized fertilizers, training for extension staff and farmers on climate-resilient practices, use of digital tools (tablets with Rice Advice and WeedMaster applications)
Project main implementer: Ministry of Rural Development (MDR) via Office Riz Ségou (ORS) and the PDIR-PD2 project management unit
Project Description: Emergency intervention to counter food insecurity by providing climate-resilient inputs, supporting the acquisition of 1,027.14 tons of seeds and 2,234 tons of fertilizers, and assisting national seed policy reforms
Objective: Increase agricultural production and reduce the negative impact of rising food and input prices on the Malian population
Expected outcome: Additional production of 11,145.6 tons of food products, yield increase of 30–50% across targeted crops
Figures of adoption: 35,274 producers targeted, 8,829 hectares cultivated, distribution of 1,027.14 tons of seeds and 2,234 tons of fertilizers
Profiles of adopters: Vulnerable producers including 30% women (10,582), 20% youth (7,054), 10% internally displaced persons (3,527)
Lessons learnt: Leveraging existing execution agencies accelerates startup, efficient procurement systems (advance actions, direct negotiation) are critical, and digitalization ensures transparency and traceability in input distribution

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country	Testing ongoing	Tested	Adopted
Ethiopia	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Kenya	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Mozambique	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Somalia	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
South Africa	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Sudan	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Tanzania	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Uganda	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Zambia	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Zimbabwe	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones. Any zones shown in white are not suitable for this technology.

Agro-ecological zones where this technology can be used
AEZ	Subtropic - warm	Subtropic - cool	Tropic - warm	Tropic - cool
Arid
Semiarid
Subhumid	–	–	–	–
Humid	–	–	–	–

Source: HarvestChoice/IFPRI 2009

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are applicable to this technology.

Goal 2: zero hunger

Goal 13: climate action

Verification and Adaptation Trials:
- Verify and adapt rust-resistant wheat varieties.
- Typically takes about one year for this process.
Accelerated Seed Multiplication in Outbreaks:
- In the case of severe outbreaks, accelerate seed multiplication.
- Conduct field testing of new varieties during main- and off-seasons.
- This allows farmers to access resistant germplasm in less than a year from its release.
Seed Multiplication Process:
- Seed multiplication of rust-resistant wheat consists of 2-4 stages.
- Follow the same procedures as for other cultivars.
Production of Early-Generation Seed:
- Agricultural research centers produce early-generation or basic seed.
Multiplication on Farms:
- Private farms, farmer cooperative unions, farmer seed producer associations, and model farmers receive the basic seed.
- They multiply large volumes of certified seed.
In-Field Techniques for Maintaining Planting Material:
- Farmers maintain stocks of rust-resistant planting material using in-field techniques.
- One method is the ear-to-row technique, where the best-performing ears are selected and replanted in single lines.
Crop Cultivation:
- Rust-resistant wheat varieties are cultivated with the same planting density and mineral fertilizer input as other improved cultivars.
- Follow local recommendations for cultivation.
Fungicide Spraying:
- Fungicide spraying may be required to protect the resistant wheat crop, depending on disease pressure and local conditions.