Jens Grønbech Hansen

A wheat rust toolbox was developed in the frame of the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI) to support the early warning and monitoring of stem rust on a global scale. The toolbox consists of a number of databases and web applications for data management, quality control, dissemination and display of interactive maps; including information on surveillance (disease data over years and across countries for all three rusts) and graphs and maps indicating the distribution of UG99 and related pathotypes. Graphs and maps are integrated with, and disseminated, via the Rust SPORE web portal at FAO (http://www.fao.org/agriculture/crops/rust/stem/rust-report/en/). The Wheat rust toolbox is one of several International research platforms hosted by Aarhus University, and it uses the same ICT framework and databases as EuroWheat (www.eurowheat.org) and EuroBlight (www.EuroBlight.net). The Wheat Rust Toolbox will also serve the Global Rust Reference Centre (GRRC) as well as several other Institutions and information platforms in the Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat project under the BGRI. From the outset the databases and information tools were developed to handle all three rust types. The EuroWheat platform already contains data on yellow rust pathotypes from Europe (1993 – 2009), and as soon as possible this will be expanded to cover all global yellow rust data available via the GRRC. The presentation will focus on experiences from the previous work on global databases and web based information systems, as well as propose ideas how the toolbox can be helpful regarding international collaboration on yellow rust surveillance, monitoring and early warning in a global context.