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South Asia

wheat fungi may have reached pakistan: A fungus, deadly for wheat, may have reached Pakistan two years earlier than predicted, said researchers at a recent meeting in Syria. The meeting was to decide on emergency measures to track the progress of the fungus, Ug99, which is a virulent strain of black stem rust (Puccinia graminis).

Identified in Uganda in 1999, the fungus has since invaded eastern African countries like Kenya and Ethiopia. Last year, it reached Yemen (see

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