H2020 Rustwatch: Continuation of the epidemiological follow-up
H2020 Rustwatch is a 4 year European project ending in September 2022, whose objective was the development of a new European early warning system for wheat rust diseases (yellow, brown and black rust) , based on a multi-stakeholder and multi-network approach.
During the final meeting in Cambridge, from August 29 to 31, GEVES presented the positive impact of this project for the European examination boards for the registration in the Official Catalogue, with a better knowledge of the new rust races, thanks to the development of the digital tool “Wheat rust early warning” allowing an open and fast dissemination of information on the distribution and frequency of races or genotypes.
Futhermore, the DIVERCILAND datebase, developed by INRAE, centralizes the crop rotation data of the varieties in Europe, as well as varietal resistance to rusts and other characteristics provided by the examination boards.
The participation of the European VATE network in the epidemiological follow-up and the durability of the tools will continue, even after the end of the project.
