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Newly Discovered Fungus Threatens World Wheat Crop
RickRussellTX writes "The UN reports that a variety of the rust fungus originally detected in Uganda in 1999 has already spread as far north as Iran, threatening wheat production across its range. The fungus infects wheat stems and affects 80% of wheat varieties, putting crops at risk and threatening the food sources for billions of people across central Asia. Although scientists believe they can develop resistant hybrids, the fungus is moving much faster than anticipated and resistant hybrids may still be years away. Meanwhile, national governments in the path of the fungus are telling folks that there is nothing to worry about."
The question isn't whether we need to send John Madden in with some Boom! Fast Actin' Tinactin!, but can we eat this new fungus?
Some fungi are delicious.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_of_Grass
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066154/
i'm so sick of being told of what i need to be afraid of. no wonder the world is full of pill popping zombies, i just wish these people would fuck off with their end of the world nonesense.
If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_smut
uh... never mind
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergot
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
I think it's too soon to worry about a rust that only eats wheat. If you look here: www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/triticale.html You will see that there is a Wheat form that people have been using for a long time and with no problems. They might be complaining that beer production might go down!
I'm here for the experience, not the Hyperbole.
I wish the article would have mentioned how related the African and Asian wheat strains were to European and American strains. Since US corn crops are about 85% genetically similar doesn't make the situation in the US good at all. If it does hit the US pretty hard we may be seeing wheat coming from Mexico most likely.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely. indymedia
There's a fungus amongus!
Good, inexpensive web hosting
Work is being done to protect crops, but Norman Borlaug says "This thing has immense potential for social and human destruction." Oh yes, and you can say goodbye to cheap white bread.
.. paranoid crackpot leftover from the days of Amiga.
What's the definition of "central Asia"? Is there really "billions of people" there?
A few seconds research would've give you an answer (80 million for the lazy).
I think however that the range of the fungus is far wider than just central Asia. Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia (along with the countries they supply grain to] could be affected, along with the rest of the world if the fungus continues to spread.
New scientist has a better article (from almost a year ago).
There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
As for the over-medicated culture we live in, that's still about not caring. If people cared, they wouldn't avoid. If they didn't avoid, they wouldn't need over-medicating. Avoiding by apathy or by drugs is the same thing.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Eat your vegetables. Seriously.
I have been waiting for this day since I was diagnosed with C(o)eliac Disease ;) (well, it feeds half the world anyway)
Now everyone has to use rice flour!
jdb2
There is no "I disagree" mod for a reason. Flamebait, Troll, and Overrated are not substitutes.
Don't worry. The UN will publish a strongly worded resolution telling the fungus to stop. If that doesn't work they'll send a wheat-keeping force.
This reminds me of the novel /Dust/ by Charles Pellegrino. See
http://www.sfsite.com/05b/dust33.htm for a pretty good review.
ISBN-10: 0380787423
ISBN-13: 978-0380787425
http://www.amazon.com/Dust-Charles-R-Pellegrino/dp/0380787423/
slashdottagsshorterthanhaikunewartform
There is no resistance to it. Not a single person has survived exposure to the virus. The few supposed exceptions turned out not to be. The body cannot adjust to it. HIV is a polymorphic virus that mutates almost every replication. There is no evolutionary pressure to be resistant to it, because there is no survival rate. Same as there's no build-up in antibiotic-resistant bacteria when medication is taken correctly and appropriately. Resistant people in Africa or anywhere else is a nice fiction but should be left in Neuromancer.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Of course hemp comes up! Hemp does everything! With it, you can make rope, clothes, food, furnature, computer chips, gold, planets, the One Ring, you name it, hemp can do it!
Q: I've heard hemp mills are awfully loud.
A: They run as quiet as a cloud.
Q: What if, perchance, hemp plastics should bend?
A: Not on your life, my stoner friend.
Q: What about us doped-up slobs?
A: You'll be given cushy jobs!
Q: The ring came off my pudding can!
A: Use a hemp one, my good man.
Q: Were you sent here by the devil?
A: No, good sir, I'm on the level.
You see, America, hemp's your only choice. Put down your bongs and raise your voice!
That was either the start of something bad or the end of something stupid.
I hear buzz growing about amaranth as a grain contender. Better protein, restores soil nutrients, etc.
Starvation in Africa is a political - not resource - problem. Starvation ANYWHERE is a political problem. Food is there, it can be grown, it could be delivered. But some tyrants prefer to starve their population...
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
Fungi!! (Fun-guy)!!
One might also ask what the definition of "newly discovered" is nowadays.
Given the ever increasing rate of change, somehow 1999 doesn't cut it for me...
Now
- population is at 6 billion and growing fast.
- pollution levels are enormous; china is well beyond what the entire world had in the 50's.
- the strain on FRESH CLEAN water is well beyond our abilities to handle it (and about to get worse due to GW).
No, we are LONG past the time when America COULD have handled things. As to tyrants "prefering" to starve their pop, that is not even close. I seriously doubt that anybody CHOOSES to starve their population. They are just incompetent idiots who are being backed by either EU, America or China and kept in power because of that (and yes, various countries EU still quietly backs various bad nations).I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
We have fscked this world over for so long with chemicals, polutants and toxins and we are reaping what we have soon. for the last 200 years we have not lived in balance, consuming too much, not producing enough and not respecting the balance of ecologies and their requirements. Fisheries die out, we plant mono crop setups that rape the ground of it's resources without putting anything back. We live outside of the seasons in our own constructed time, and try to run it our way instead of natural physical laws that peoples have worked with for thousands of years.
We fsck with biotoxins, dna splicing and nature in general to seek a better breed, but care not for the delicate balance that must be preserved. What diversity of species do we have compared now to 200, 300 years ago?
The ecosystems can be so complex that we struggle to understand them, yet we do all these things knowingly that we are abusing delicate balances that should not be upset. The saddest things is that 'we know what we do' and continue to do it.
We have a responsibility as sentient beings to this planet and we are fsking it into the ground. No sadly we reap what we sow. Cause and effect
The Tao that can be named is not the Tao
Oh, don't be silly. Growing the food DOES cost money. The parent post said "if we chose to" but it really is a bit more complicated than that. There have been times when we worked with other countries to make sure their populations were well fed, outside of the normal economic system. Google "oil for food" for more.
Bubonic plague is transported in the body in a similar way to HIV. There is a recessive gene that provides immunity, so you can be born flat-out immune to aids. It works by changing the shape of white blood cells.
Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
it was like eating gravel
hopefully american food processors can turn it into a sweet mushy goo, like most of the food i'm comfortable with
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
I have it on good authority that we could have avoided all of those if we, as a nation, would turn back to God and expel those nasty gays, pagans, and so forth.
Hail Eris, full of mischief...
E pluribus sanguinem
What happened? Dictators and murderers like Mugabe seized power. Farms were stolen from the farmers, and given to political cronies. Aid is taken from the masses and given to the elite.
The solution? Go in, kill the bastards, and rebuild the country. Of course, the US did that in Iraq and look at the grief received for doing so... And when we decide to do nothing - like in Sudan - we're condemned for sitting on the sidelines.
So you tell me - what should the EU or US do? What would YOUR solution be? Mine would be pretty radical for most around here, so what would your politically correct solution be, and how would it differ from the current situation other than in magnitude of aid sent and redirected to bastards who have destroyed Africa.
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
I'll stop making fun of the "Hemp is a wonder crop" folks as soon as they start advocating for, say, kenaf (a largely superior fiber), or when 95% of the hemp advocacy sites online don't have words like "marijuana" in the URL.
That was either the start of something bad or the end of something stupid.
I think its the monorail song - from the Music Man style guy.
Lyle Lanley: Well, sir, there's nothing on earth
Like a genuine,
Bona fide,
Electrified,
Six-car
Monorail!
What'd I say?
Ned Flanders: Monorail!
Lyle Lanley: What's it called?
Patty+Selma: Monorail!
Lyle Lanley: That's right! Monorail!
[crowd chants `Monorail' softly and rhythmically]
Miss Hoover: I hear those things are awfully loud...
Lyle Lanley: It glides as softly as a cloud.
Apu: Is there a chance the track could bend?
Lyle Lanley: Not on your life, my Hindu friend.
Barney: What about us brain-dead slobs?
Lyle Lanley: You'll be given cushy jobs.
Abe: Were you sent here by the devil?
Lyle Lanley: No, good sir, I'm on the level.
Wiggum: The ring came off my pudding can.
Lyle Lanley: Take my pen knife, my good man.
I swear it's Springfield's only choice...
Throw up your hands and raise your voice!
All: Monorail!
Lyle Lanley: What's it called?
All: Monorail!
Lyle Lanley: Once again...
All: Monorail!
Marge: But Main Street's still all cracked and broken...
Bart: Sorry, Mom, the mob has spoken!
All: Monorail!
Monorail!
Monorail!
[big finish]
Monorail!
Homer: Mono... D'oh!
You get my point, though, don't you? The overwhelming majority of those touting hemp *virtually never* tout any other great fibers. Their sole reason they are concerned with hemp is made obvious by the sites where you see the advocacy, everywhere from "stopthedrugwar.org" to "nirvana-shop.co.uk" to "drugwarfacts.org" to "druglibrary.org" and so on. These people aren't into hemp because they've long had some sort of affection for quality fibers. Their sole interest is to try and show that the government went overboard with the drug war as part of a move to try and get the drug war repealed.
Hemp is not some magical crop. It has many uses, but they're often way overstated, and other crops, like kenaf, are superior in most respects. It's just another crop, one that could be useful, but has unfortunately gotten caught up in politics. Yet every time the topic comes up, you get these druggies who treat it like it's the Second Coming of Christ, and then act all taken aback when you point out that it's not exactly the best choice in most applications. Even some very common products today are superior than their hemp equivalents -- for example, plain 'old manila rope, made from a type of banana leaf. Just as strong, but doesn't rot nearly as easily as hemp rope does (hemp rope is particularly insidious when it comes to rot, as it tends to rot from the inside out and wick water along so that the whole rope can rot). Or take the other "miracle" thing often mentioned, hemp oil. Yes, it also has many uses. It's also not a very thermally stable oil, and is somewhat prone to going rancid.
Can you see how one can get sick of the politics-driven promotion of hemp as a cure-all?
That was either the start of something bad or the end of something stupid.
wrong.
The wheat price is high because some food crops are being used for ethanol instead, so there's less food.
The wheat price is also high because their is higher demand as China (Asia) moves like Russia did in the 70s to more meat in the average diet, so they need more grain to feed to animals. 10 calories of grain is needed to make 1 calorie of meat, IIRC.
You see flour shortages in Pakistan, and massive queues and shortages, and that's not because of the USA dollar.
It all comes back to the oil price, and the available energy per capita.