Publications by authors named "Jason M Beddow"

This study provides a bio-economic assessment of the global climate suitability and probabilistic crop-loss estimates attributable to wheat leaf rust. We draw on a purpose-built, spatially explicit, ecoclimatic suitability model for wheat leaf rust to estimate that 94.4% of global wheat production is vulnerable to the disease.

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Based on more recent science spending developments in countries such as China, Korea, India and Brazil, there is a growing sense that the world's scientific deck of cards is in the midst of a major reshuffle. But it is not clear if this reordering is limited to just the top spenders, or, indeed, how these changes have been playing out over the longer term. The new, more comprehensive research and development (R&D) spending estimates presented and discussed here reveal that we are in the midst of a possibly game-changing, albeit partial and perhaps irregular, reshuffle of the global R&D deck.

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Article Synopsis
  • Breeding new crop varieties with pest resistance is essential for enhancing agricultural productivity, but pests can adapt and diminish these defenses over time.
  • Research indicates a major increase in the spread of stripe rust, a wheat disease, resulting in 88% of global wheat production being at risk.
  • Annual economic losses from stripe rust amount to nearly US$979 million, and investing at least US$32 million in developing resistant wheat varieties is deemed a necessary and justified cost.
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