The USDA cereal disease experts at the Cereal Disease Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, St. Paul, MN, are providing expert identification of the cereal pathogen strains that are threatening the global grain supply. These cereal rust experts are providing precise verification of rust strains and are the first to verify new mutations in the strains. Their definitive identification of strains is aiding wheat and barley breeders worldwide to get a head-start in developing wheat varieties with improved rust protection.

USDA is supporting increased wheat protection from cereal rust diseases through international food security research for Pakistan and Afghanistan. This includes the USDA Wheat Productivity Enhancement Project for Pakistan. As part of this project USDA scientists are identifying cereal rust samples from Pakistan and identifying rust resistance genes in Pakistani and Afghan wheat breeding lines.