KANSAS CITY, April 16: The world has “never been less secure” about the near-term future of wheat, US Agriculture Secretary Edward Schafer told food aid groups on Wednesday.

Schafer told the International Food Aid Conference meeting here that global wheat stocks are at historic 30-year lows and US wheat stocks are at 60-year lows. Against that background, the highly virulent African stem rust is quickly spreading to places such as Uganda, Ethiopia, Yemen, India, Pakistan and now Iran.

“With over 75 per cent of US wheat acres planted to varieties that are highly susceptible to this disease, the threat here at home is real and it is urgent,” he said.

The disease, which is carried by wind spores, would be devastating to global food supplies if it affects the US wheat crops, now valued at $16 billion.

The United States has shipped wheat breeding lines to east Africa, where work is being done to find a rust-resistant strain and to find new protective measures.

“This is an international science partnership at its best in the face of crisis that threatens most of the world’s food,” Schafer told about 700 conference attendees from 25 countries.

Food aid groups have been meeting to discuss finding solutions to soaring commodity and fuel prices that have slashed the amount of food they can buy to feed the world’s most impoverished regions. Changing climate patterns that have spawned crop failures and competition from biofuels have come together to create “a perfect storm that has spawned a world hunger crisis”.—AP