Phytopathology (2015) 105, 1164-1173

Selected publication you are invited to contribute to the discussion section (above tab)

Stuart McCook and John Vandermeer (2015)
The big rust and the Red Queen: Long-term perspectives on coffee rust research
Phytopathology 105 (9), 1164-1173
Abstract: Since 2008, there has been a cluster of outbreaks of the coffee rust (Hemileia vastatrix) across the coffee-growing regions of the Americas, which have been collectively described as the Big Rust. These outbreaks have caused significant hardship to coffee producers and laborers. This essay situates the Big Rust in a broader historical context. Over the past two centuries, coffee farmers have had to deal with the "curse of the Red Queen" - the need to constantly innovate in the face of an increasing range of threats, which includes the rust. Over the 20th century, particularly after World War II, national governments and international organizations developed a network of national, regional, and international coffee research institutions. These public institutions played a vital role in helping coffee farmers manage the rust. Coffee farmers have pursued four major strategies for managing the rust: bioprospecting for resistant coffee plants, breeding resistant coffee plants, chemical control, and agroecological control. Currently, the main challenge for researchers is to develop rust control strategies that are both ecologically and economically viable for coffee farmers, in the context of a volatile, deregulated coffee industry and the emergent challenges of climate change.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
review

---

Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Hemileia vastatrix