Stem Rust Never Sleeps By Norman E. Borlaug 26 April 2008 This
Norman E. Borlaug op-ed was published in the April 26, 2008,
edition of The New York Times. Dallas...With food prices soaring
throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America, and shortages
threatening hunger and political chaos, the time could not be
worse for an epidemic of stem rust in the world's wheat crops.
Yet millions of wheat farmers, small and large, face this
spreading and deadly crop infection. The looming catastrophe can
be avoided if the world's wheat scientists pull together to
develop a new generation of stem-rust-resistant varieties of
wheat. But scientists must quickly turn their attention to
replacing almost all of the commercial wheat grown in the world
today. This will require a commitment from many nations,
especially the United States, which has lately neglected its
role as a leader in agricultural science. Stem rust, the most
feared of all wheat diseases, can turn a healthy crop of wheat
into a tangled mass of stems that produce l