aflatoxin Archives

IITA and regional grains body to work towards producing aflatoxin-free grain for health and trade

CGIAR-IITA and the Eastern Africa Grain Council (EAGC) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to work together to tackle aflatoxin contamination of grain in the region. Achieving this will ensure that grains are safe for human and livestock consumption and meet export standards. Aflatoxin, a highly poisonous chemical produced by a naturally occurring fungus known as Aspergillus flavus, poses a severe health threat to both humans and animals. Acute…

Project to develop Aflasafe technology that controls deadly aflatoxin in Uganda launched

Kampala, Uganda – The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the National Agriculture Research Organisation (NARO) will collaborate to finalize the development of Aflasafe—a safe and effective natural product for the integrated management of aflatoxin in the maize, sorghum, and groundnut value chains in Uganda. This is through a four-year project, funded by aBi Development Ltd….

Malawi registers Aflasafe®—The cost-effective technology for aflatoxin management

The long wait for registration of Aflasafe products in Malawi has finally ended as the Pesticides Control Board (PCB) has now given the approval. Earlier, the technology was given the green light by the Agricultural Technical Clearing Committee, a unit under the Department of Agricultural Research Services (DARS). This registration paves the way for the…

IITA launches IYPH website

By now, we know that 2020 is the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH). Throughout the year, partners and stakeholders in agriculture shall increase awareness among the public and policymakers on the importance of healthy plants and the necessity to protect them in order to reduce hunger, malnutrition and poverty. To create more awareness, IITA…

IITA scientist wins international award

Alejandro Ortega-Beltran, a research scientist with IITA, has won the William Boright Hewitt and Maybelle Ellen Ball Hewitt Award for 2020. He will receive the award in August from the American Phytopathological Society (APS). This award recognizes a scientist, who within seven years of having received their PhD, makes an outstanding, innovative contribution to plant…

Aflatoxin mitigation in Sudan gets boost with multi-stakeholder partnership

Samil Industrial Co., in collaboration with IITA, hosted a workshop in late 2019 in Al Salam Rotana Hotel, Khartoum, Sudan, to inaugurate the Multi-stakeholder Partnership for Aflatoxin Mitigation in Sudan. The Minister of Agriculture, H.E. Issa Osman Sharif inaugurated the workshop, which involved representatives from many sectors. These included government institutes, universities, research institutes, the…

Decade-long trials prove efficacy of Nigeria’s aflatoxin biocontrol product

An IITA-led partnership has honed aflatoxin biocontrol for sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) for over 15 years. Recently, the team published a landmark journal article reporting a 10-year study on the efficacy of Aflasafe®, a registered biocontrol product for aflatoxin management in Nigeria. This is the longest-running, most extensive study on efficacy of any biocontrol product or management practice…

Ghanaian farmers can now control Aflatoxin, earn big

A study has identified the best non-toxic strains that can limit aflatoxin contamination in laboratory and field conditions. One of the authors, Dr. Alejandro Ortega-Beltran, a plant pathologist with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) says, “We were able to detect non-toxic strains with the highest ability to limit crop contamination in the laboratory…

Scientists discover best practice for minimizing aflatoxin contamination of maize

Scientists recommend best practice for minimizing aflatoxin contamination of maize

R4D Special IITA researchers, working with scientists from other agricultural institutions, have come up with a pre-harvest practice for minimizing aflatoxin contamination of maize. The practice was developed and outlined in a study in Kenya, which was carried out to document the rate at which aflatoxin contaminates physiologically mature maize in the field. Aflatoxins are…

Extension workers and agribusinesses receive aflatoxin management training in Ghana’s Ashanti and Eastern regions

It was moment of learning, capacity strengthening, and networking for participants at the regional training of trainers (ToT) workshop held in Ghana’s Ashanti and Eastern regional capitals of Kumasi and Koforidua in March 2019. As part of its Aflasafe technology transfer strategy, IITA, in partnership with the Green Innovation Center (GIC) of GIZ and Ghana’s…