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JOHN RINGO, CALL YOUR OFFICE: A ?Time Bomb? For World Wheat Crop. Though most Americans have nev?

By Glenn Reynolds

JOHN RINGO, CALL YOUR OFFICE: A “Time Bomb” For World Wheat Crop.

Though most Americans have never heard of it, Ug99 — a type of fungus called stem rust because it produces reddish-brown flakes on plant stalks — is the No. 1 threat to the world’s most widely grown crop.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico estimates that 19% of the world’s wheat, which provides food for 1 billion people in Asia and Africa, is in imminent danger. American plant breeders say $10 billion worth of wheat would be destroyed if the fungus suddenly made its way to U.S. fields.

Fear that the fungus will cause widespread damage has caused short-term price spikes on world wheat markets. Famine has been averted thus far, but experts say it’s only a matter of time.

Read the whole thing. It’ll probably hit America right after the “supervolcano” under Mt. St. Helens erupts (”These enormous eruptions can spew enough sunlight-blocking ash into the atmosphere to cool the climate by several degrees Celsius”), or something, in the middle of a Swine Flu pandemic. Oh, wait . . . .

Meanwhile: Crops Under Stress As Temperatures Fall. “In Canada and northern America summer planting of corn and soybeans has been way behind schedule, with the prospect of reduced yields and lower quality. Grain stocks are predicted to be down 15 per cent next year. US reserves of soya ? used in animal feed and in many processed foods ? are expected to fall to a 32-year low.” Plus, in Chicago, So far this June is running more than 12 degrees cooler than last year. Well, it could be worse. We could be in one of the Ringo Posleen books, I guess . . . .

UPDATE: Trent Telenko emails: “The great irony is that America’s greater acceptance of genetically engineered food will leave it the least vulnerable to this stuff. The EU may be stuck with genetically modified wheat, if it wants to grow any wheat at all.”

Yes, a couple of readers noticed this sentence from the article: “After several years of feverish work, scientists have identified a mere half-dozen genes that are immediately useful for protecting wheat from Ug99. Incorporating them into crops using conventional breeding techniques is a nine- to 12-year process that has only just begun.” No mention of using something other than “conventional breeding techniques,” but that’s clearly the way to go.

Full post as published by Instapundit.com on June 15, 2009 (boomark / email).