Ethiopia’s grain market in danger?

(17 January 2011, afrik-news)--A yellow wheat rust epidemic, a form of wheat fungus, is devouring crops in three major wheat-growing regional states of Ethiopia. 

Nonetheless, a grain shortage on the Ethiopian market, which has led to a government decision to import grains, has been blamed on market speculation.

Oromiya, the key wheat-growing region of the country, has been infected by a yellow wheat rust epidemic, according to an assessment by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) released January 12, 2011.

Amhara, and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples (SNNP) regions, have also fallen victim to the yellow wheat rust, a type of fungus that destroys crops.

Experts say the yellow wheat rust fungus infects crops at all stages of growth. The disease, which is known to spread rapidly, hits crops during the growth season and is symptomatic of stunted and weakened plants with shriveled grains, fewer spikes, and a loss in the number of grains per spike as well as grain weight.

According to the report, quoting an assessment made by the local office of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the epidemic had infected more than one million acres of cropland as of November 2010.

However, notwithstanding the considerable impact that the epidemic, coupled with other factors, might have on the level of crop production, harvest during the main season was expected to be between "normal and above-normal."  Read more from AFRIK-News »

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