Diseases in crops are a major struggle for farmers and cause devastating yield losses annually particularly in edible foodgrains such as rice wheat and maize. Fusarium head blight and yellow dwarf virus are the two largest diseases in wheat crops. According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) the damage from these two diseases in US wheat crops is estimated to be $1 billion dollars per year. Yellow dwarf is the most widely distributed and destructive of the wheat viruses. According to an Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES) survey from 1993 to 1998 yellow dwarf accounted for 39% of wheat losses in the Southwest. Fusarium head blight is a fungal disease that can develop into a mold and may be deadly to humans if it reaches the food supply. According to a 2010 issue of Agricultural Research magazine the Midwestern United States alone suffered $2.7 billion in losses following a Fusarium head blight epidemic from 1998 to 2000. Stem and stripe rust are fungal infections that cause the production of spore-producing rust-colored pustules on the plant. Stem rust can weaken the plant stem and stripe rust causes yellow spore-producing pustules to develop in thin lines on the plant. Purdue University researchers have developed a single wheat cultivar that combines resistance factors for all of these diseases. This will drastically reduce crop loss due to these globally important diseases.
-Combines resistance to four major wheat diseases -Will drastically reduce crop loss due to these diseases