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RR RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHIL #2135/01 2471031
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 041031Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4723
INFO RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0819
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1235
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 5423
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE 7795
RUEHPW/AMCONSUL PESHAWAR 6804
RUEHKP/AMCONSUL KARACHI 2191
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 002135 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR EAID ECON PREL TBIO AF IN PK IR
SUBJ: Regional Food Security Symposium on Wheat Stem Rust 
 
REF: Islamabad 1267 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: The August 12-13 regional symposium on wheat stem 
rust in Islamabad offered Pakistani scientists a rare opportunity to 
focus international attention on Pakistan's need for greater 
investment in agricultural research.  A comprehensive wheat action 
plan based on the symposium's recommendations is being prepared; 
priority GOP approval is expected.  Once approved, the U.S. team 
will review the plan and identify areas where USG support might best 
be leveraged.  A major development was a report of a new, local 
wheat rust strain in southern Pakistan that may be as virulent as 
Ug99.  If confirmed this would be devastating setback for the 
international scientific coalition working to develop new 
Ug99-resistant varieties.  USDA will coordinate with Pakistan 
scientists to send a sample of the new strain to the USDA Cereal 
Rust Laboratory in Minnesota for definitive analysis.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Islamabad FAS and ECON, in collaboration with the United 
States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Pakistan National 
Agriculture Research Council (NARC), the International Centre for 
Wheat and Maize (CYMMIT), and the International Centre for 
Agriculture Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) organized a regional food 
security symposium on wheat stem rust in Islamabad on August 12-13. 
Seventy five scientists from Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, 
Australia, Iran and the international Durable Rust Resistance in 
Wheat Project (Gates Foundation) also participated in the symposium, 
which focused on developing a near-term, practical action plan for 
Pakistan and Afghanistan to protect wheat production from cereal 
rust. 
 
¶3. (U) Although active participants in the Green Revolution, 
Pakistan scientists have been largely isolated from the 
international agricultural scientific community for the past two 
decades.  Throughout the two-day event, Pakistan scientists made 
repeated appeals for reengagement with the world agricultural 
scientific community. 
 
¶4. (U) This symposium was the first event organized under the Food 
Security Tri-Lateral Working Group targeting increased agricultural 
productivity.  Officials from the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture had 
agreed to participate; however, their travel was cancelled at the 
last minute due to a GIRoA-imposed ban in the run-up to the August 
20 presidential elections. 
 
¶5. (U) Pakistani scientists believed it was important to invite 
their counter-parts from Iran to the conference due to reported 
incidences of Ug99 in that country.  Although no Iranian government 
officials accepted the invitation, two Iranian citizens did 
participate, a representative from ICARDA (based in Aleppo, Syria) 
and a representative from CYMMIT (based in Tehran, Iran).  The 
CYMMIT representative from Tehran engaged comfortably with USDA 
officials, informing them that the spread of Ug99 in Iran has been 
arrested by two-consecutive years of drought.  Iranian government 
scientists regularly participate in Ug99 events hosted by CYMMIT at 
their headquarters in Mexico. 
 
Background: What is Ug99 and Why is it a Threat? 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶6. (U) Wheat stem rusts are fungal pathogens that can block grain 
development and drastically reduce grain yield.  Wheat breeders have 
bred wheat varieties resistant to wheat stem rusts for over 60 
years.  A new rust strain, Ug99, which can defeat most stem rust 
protective genes, appeared in East Africa in 1999 and made its way 
through the horn of Africa and into Iran.  More than 80 percent of 
the world's wheat acreage is at risk from Ug99, including wheat 
production in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the United States.  The 
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has put 
Pakistan and Afghanistan on high alert following a report that Ug99 
black wheat stem rust has moved into Iran.  The August 12-13 
symposium launched a coordinated effort to combat this potential 
threat to regional food security. 
 
Strategies to Fight Ug99 
------------------------ 
 
¶7. (U) Scientists from the major wheat producing countries have 
joined forces with the international wheat breeding centers, CIMMYT 
(based in Mexico) and ICARDA (based in Syria) to develop new wheat 
 
ISLAMABAD 00002135  002 OF 002 
 
 
varieties with Ug99-resistant genes, some of which were provided to 
countries near to Ug99-infected areas (including Pakistan) in 2009. 
More thoroughly resistant varieties are being developed, but there 
is concern Pakistan and Afghanistan (among other countries) are not 
evaluating and adopting new Ug99-resistant varieties fast enough. 
 
New Rust Variety Discovered in Pakistan? 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (U) The two-day workshop included presentations by international 
and Pakistan wheat improvement and cereal disease leaders, leaders 
in wheat genetics, as well as diverse breeders and pathologists from 
several provinces.  Pakistani scientists reported a new, local wheat 
rust strain in southern Pakistan that may be as virulent as Ug99. 
This new strain reportedly killed the first field trial of CIMMYT's 
new Ug99 resistant wheat varieties.  If confirmed this would be 
devastating setback for CIMMYT and the international scientific 
coalition, including USDA's efforts to develop new Ug99-resistant 
varieties.  Although evidence of a new virulent rust strain was 
troubling, most workshop participants concluded that a more thorough 
assessment, according to world standards, must be done in the next 
growing season. 
 
¶9. (U) There was some dissent, however, among the Pakistani 
scientific community about sending a sample of the putative new 
strain to the USDA Cereal Rust Laboratory, St. Paul, Minnesota, for 
definitive analysis (Note: The USDA lab is one of the few labs in 
the world with the scientific expertise and authorization to work 
with living rust samples. End Note).  Many Pakistani scientists 
dislike being overly dependent on the international centers, CIMMYT 
and ICARDA, to develop their new wheat varieties and to analyze new 
threats.  They think that broad international use of common CIMMYT 
varieties makes Pakistan vulnerable to new wheat disease threats. 
As noted by ICARDA's Dr. A. Mujid, Pakistan could readily increase 
wheat production by 200 percent (2 to 4.5 metric tons per hectare) 
with a combination of improved seeds and adoption of better 
agronomy/management practices by farmers.  The Pakistani leaders 
noted that over 60 percent of Pakistanis are farmers so increased 
crop productivity would have a major impact.  These concerns 
underscored a common theme at the workshop that Pakistan needs to 
strengthen its wheat improvement programs to increase wheat 
productivity and protection. 
 
Next Steps 
---------- 
 
¶10. (U) The GOP delegation is developing a wheat action plan and has 
promised to share the plan with USDA/Islamabad.  The USDA and USAID 
Islamabad team also identified the following priority needs based on 
recommendations from Pakistan and other international leaders: 1) 
Surveillance/Monitoring/Cereal Rust Expertise; 2) Plant Breeding 
Program; 3) Seed Program; 4) Agronomic practices; and 5)Extension 
Hubs.  Following receipt of the Pakistan plan, the USG team will 
identify those areas where USG support could be best leveraged. 
 
PATTERSON