Wheat variety Jimai 20 can resist the new wheat stem rust fungus

Identified in Kenya through the International Maize @#@245@#@ Improvement Center, Jimai 20 is the only wheat among China's 116 winter wheat varieties that is resistant to the new Ug99 wheat stem rust fungus.

On April 12, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization issued a warning that a new type of wheat stem rust fungus named "Ug99" has spread from East Africa to Yemen. This new type of wheat stem rust may pose a threat to 80% of wheat varieties in Africa and Asia. Once it spreads over a large area, global food production will suffer heavy losses.

Wheat stem rust is a fungal disease that affects plants and is named for the affected parts of the plant and their external color. The stem rust fungus named Ug99 causes rust-colored spots on wheat stems and the tops of grains, gradually destroying the plant, with a crop loss rate of 40%. Scientists from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization warn that 80% of wheat varieties in developing countries are not resistant to Ug99. Among the wheat breeding materials available to breeders worldwide to resist Ug99, 36% can be infected by Ug99, 63% are unknown (of which an estimated 60% can be infected by Ug99), and only 0.3% of the materials can show a certain degree of resistance to Ug99.

Scientists are working to develop new varieties, hoping to avoid infection by the Ug99 fungus. At present, China's Jimai 20 is the only variety among 116 winter wheat varieties that is resistant to the new wheat stem rust fungus.