'Disease Threatens Afghan Wheat Crop', IPS, 30 July 2009
EXCERPT: "Agronomists and crop experts fear that an aggressive disease that attacks wheat crops could soon reach Afghanistan, potentially threatening food security and initiatives to curb the cultivation of illicit crops. The Ug99 fungus, so named for its identification in Uganda in 1999, is a strain of black stem rust, a fungus that kills plants by leeching water and nutrients from them. Combating Ug99 is of particular importance in Afghanistan because of the Afghan economy's heavy reliance on the agricultural sector, which accounts for nearly one-third of the country's GDP. Furthermore, 80 percent of Afghanistan's working-age males are farmers, nearly all of whom grow wheat for food or sale. In addition, USAID estimates that over six million Afghanis – nearly one-fifth of the population – do not have enough food. In short, if Afghanistan's wheat crops were faced with Ug99, it could endanger food security and the bedrock of the country's economy. The proliferation of Ug99 also has implications for Afghanistan's drug industry. USAID and U.S. armed forces in Afghanistan have been promoting wheat cultivation as part of a larger strategy to combat narcotics in Afghanistan. One of their newest efforts has involved paying farmers not to grow poppies and encouraging them to grow other crops, including wheat."
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See also:
'US military's new weapon in Afghanistan: Agriculture', The Statesman, 31 July 2009
'US army's farm program tackles Afghan rebuilding from the ground up', Los Angeles Times, 26 July 2009
Related posts:
'Afghanistan expects biggest wheat harvest in decades', 2 June 2009
'Nourishing Afghanistan's agricultural sector', 28 May 2009
'ADB gives 30 million dollars to rebuild agriculture', 24 November 2008
'Afghan famine poses greater risk than Taliban', 30 October 2008
'Food insecurity in Afghanistan increasing sharply', 14 January 2008

