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 adoption2

Technology integrated in the PUPSAN- Mali, and TAISP- Tanzania projects.

Project	Beneficiaries	Budget	Duration	Key figures
PUPSAN- Mali Emergency Production and Food & Nutrition Security Project	35,274 vulnerable farmers (31.5% women and 20% young people).	7.04 million	2023–2026	1,027.14 tons of certified seed. 2,234 tons of fertilizer.
TAISP- Tanzania Agricultural Inputs Support Project	1,200,000 smallholder households (40% women & young people).	84.07 million	2022–2028	7,200 tons of wheat seed. 600,000 tons of fertilizer. 1,200,000 farmers.

See project details ›

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

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 program

Yellow Rust and Stem Rust Resistant Wheat is an improved wheat technology that combines all-stage and adult plant resistance genes to protect crops against major rust diseases, improve yields, and strengthen resilience to climate variability. The technology can be integrated into wheat value chain development, food security, climate-smart agriculture, and sustainable crop production programs to reduce yield losses and improve wheat productivity. Its adoption contributes to SDGs 2 (Zero Hunger) and 13 (Climate Action).

To integrate this technology into your project, plan and budget for the following activities and prerequisites:

Assess rust disease prevalence, agroecological conditions, seed demand, and the capacity of local wheat seed systems in target areas.
Establish partnerships with International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), national agricultural research and extension services, seed companies, and other wheat value chain stakeholders to support technology dissemination and scaling.
Facilitate access to certified rust-resistant wheat seed through sustainable seed multiplication and distribution systems.
Implement demonstration plots and training for farmers, seed producers, cooperatives, women's groups, youth enterprises, and extension agents on rust identification, integrated disease management, and recommended wheat production practices.
Support extension and dissemination activities to promote the adoption of rust-resistant wheat varieties.
Promote the participation of women, youth, and smallholder farmers in wheat production, seed multiplication, and technology adoption activities.
Implement monitoring, learning, and inclusion activities throughout the project lifecycle.
Track key indicators such as adoption rates, certified seed distribution, rust incidence, wheat yields, farmer income, and climate resilience.

4.1 Ton/ha

average grain yield

440 USD

Total farming operational costs

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

Project	Beneficiaries	Budget	Duration	Key figures
PUPSAN- Mali Emergency Production and Food & Nutrition Security Project	35,274 vulnerable farmers (31.5% women and 20% young people).	7.04 million	2023–2026	1,027.14 tons of certified seed. 2,234 tons of fertilizer.
TAISP- Tanzania Agricultural Inputs Support Project	1,200,000 smallholder households (40% women & young people).	84.07 million	2022–2028	7,200 tons of wheat seed. 600,000 tons of fertilizer. 1,200,000 farmers.

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.