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For more information about the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, and about training and career opportunities, please contact:

Undergraduate:
ugarec@ag.arizona.edu
Phone: (520) 621-6244

Graduate:
garec@ag.arizona.edu
Phone: (520) 621-2421

Karnal Bunt
A Real or Political Disease of Wheat?

Karnal bunt (Kb) is a fungal disease of wheat that has recently caused political turmoil in the desert southwest. First reported in India in 1931, the disease later spread to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Mexico. In 1983, the United States quarantined the import of all Mexican wheat and wheat seed. All of the major wheat exporting countries in the world followed suit. Despite these trade restrictions, Kb was detected in an Arizona durum wheat seed lot in 1996. In response, USDA quarantined all wheat in Arizona, and in parts of New Mexico and Texas. While the government's decision was applauded by U.S. wheat interests outside the quarantine area, it caused serious problems for Arizona wheat industry participants.

Given the severity of the government's restrictions, Kb would appear to be a serious plague. However, the American Phytopathological Society suggests that Kb is a minor plant pest of little or no consequence. Unlike some other cereal grain diseases found in the United States—for which quarantine and eradication strategies have not been employed—Kb poses no known health risks to animals or humans and yield loss is inconsequential.

Indeed, the only problem with Kb is the possibility of "a fishy odor" imparted to the grain flour if spores are present in high concentration. This "problem" is not unlike other grain quality defects, which the private trade handles routinely via grades, standards, price discounts, and blending, without government intervention.

Quarantine is a severe sanction with devastating economic consequences—a protective action that should be reserved for situations where the biological/health/environmental consequences of not doing so are real and serious. Some adversely affected parties in the desert southwest tagged Kb a political disease of wheat. Economists would classify the restrictions associated with Kb as a "non-tariff barrier to trade"—one of many kinds of political opportunities to use the coercive power of government to gain economic advantage in world and regional markets.

Faculty Involvement
Bruce Beattie was a consultant on the economic consequences of the Kb episode in Arizona and southern California. He also served as a member of USDA's Karnal Bunt Compensation Task Force.

Additional Readings
Beattie, B.R., and D.R. Biggerstaff. "Karnal Bunt: A Wimp of a Disease...But an Irresistible Political Opportunity." Choices 14(Second Quarter, 1999):4-8.

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