cassava brown streak disease Archives - Page 2 of 2

CBSD control project for Rwanda and Burundi launched

IITA in partnership with the Institute of Agricultural Science of Burundi (ISABU) and Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) have launched a new project titled “Fighting Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD) and Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD) through the deployment of new resistant germplasm and clean seed in Rwanda and Burundi”.

Controlling the twin viral cassava diseases in East Africa through breeding—major victories, but fight is far from over

Cassava farmers in Eastern Africa have been watching in despair as two viral diseases―cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) and cassava mosaic disease (CMD)―ravage their valuable crop. Edward Kanju, IITA cassava breeder based in Tanzania, has spent the last 11 years at the Institute leading regional efforts to develop improved cassava varieties with tolerance or resistance…

IITA scientist’s intervention enables struggling MSc student to finalize studies

Elias Oyesigye was struggling to finish his studies on time. That was until the collaboration of an IITA scientist with the University professors and the Mozambique’s Ministry of Agriculture that saw him smoothly finalize his research and successfully defend his thesis with high marks. Elias is a Ugandan national on a scholarship through the INTRA-ACP…

Picture of Clean Seed to Combat CBSD and CMD Project (5CP) team visiting the trials in Tanzania.

Landmark regional crop breeding trials show promise against deadly cassava viral diseases

Disease resistance trials being conducted simultaneously in 33 different locations across 5 African countries and involving 25 shared varieties – a first-of-its-kind multi-country collaborative cassava breeding initiative in East and Southern Africa – are showing promise against the deadly Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD) and Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD). This was highlighted during a stakeholders’…

Picture of Virologist Lava Kumar, project lead, explains the importance of the CDS platform

IITA and NAQS pilot digital Cassava Disease Surveillance platform

IITA has launched a digital surveillance platform called Cassava Disease Surveillance (CDS) to facilitate cassava disease surveillance in Nigeria. “The CDS is a virtual network for rapid diagnosis of cassava diseases, communication, and coordinated deployment of emergency response,” said Lava Kumar, IITA Virologist and lead investigator of the CDS project. This interactive program—accessible through any…

Picture of Story about the first World Congress on Root and Tuber Crops on RTB.cgiar.org website.

Top six highlights from the first World Congress on Root and Tuber Crops

The first World Congress on Roots and Tuber Crops has come and gone, but the lessons from the convergence in Nanning, China linger. In a recent blog by Graham Thiele, Program Director, CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) entitled “Six steps forward for root and tuber crops”. Thiele highlighted six key take-home…

Picture of large population of B. tabaci adults feeding on the underside of a young cassava leaf

Researchers on one of the world’s most destructive agricultural pests, whitefly, converge in Arusha, Tanzania

The 2nd International Whitefly Symposium (IWS2) is taking place in Arusha, Tanzania, this week, 14-19 February. It has brought together more than a hundred scientists from all over the world to discuss one of the world’s most destructive agricultural pests, the whitefly. In sub-Saharan Africa, whiteflies are a key threat to food security and efforts…