Plant Health Archives - Page 7 of 15

IITA’s labor of love, transforming African Agriculture

To love, or not to love, that is not the question! How to love…now that is real the question. Since 1967, IITA has been on a journey of love, developing solutions to eradicate hunger by ensuring food security, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. The Institute has done this by championing research to increase crop yield and…

YIIFSWA-II participates in commercial plant tissue culture production training

On 17 January, YIIFSWA-II’s Tissue Culture Specialist, Morufat Balogun attended a one-day training on commercial plant tissue culture production hosted by Phytotech LABS in Chicago, Illinois, USA. According to Balogun, the participants learned about plant tissue culture best practices and participated in hands-on training to bolster the theoretical lessons of the workshop. She said, “The training…

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…

Do not regulate genome-edited crops – IITA woman scientist

11 February was the International Day for Women and Girls in Science. IITA joined the rest of the world to celebrate the contribution of our women scientists in ensuring a food and nutrition-secure world. Women account for half of the world’s population and we cannot make representative and long-lasting changes in agriculture without them. As United Nations…

YIIFSWA-II participates in Plant and Animal Genome Conference (PAG XXVIII) in San Diego

Billed as the largest Plant and Animal Genome meeting in the world, scientists from around the world converged at San Diego, California, USA, for PAG XXVIII from 11 to 15 January to promote research discoveries, exchange ideas, and gain new insights on plant and animal genome research and development. YIIFSWA-II scientists, Norbert Maroya and Morufat…

Aflasafe can reduce exposure to cancer-causing toxins and promote farmer access to premium markets

“If someone eats this maize, which may contain high aflatoxin levels, they may die and their death may be attributed to something else,” Dr Alejandro Ortega-Beltran a Plant Pathologist with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) says as he scrolls through pictures of nasty looking maize. Nasty, because it is rotten and covered by…

Survey identifies Black Sigatoka banana disease hotspots in Uganda and Tanzania

Survey also finds disease is well established and more widespread than previously thought Both Luwero District in Uganda and Mbarara District, Kagera Region in Tanzania have been identified as the areas most affected by the deadly banana disease, black Sigatoka which is caused by a fungus. The disease, which was found to be more severe…

How IITA discovered the fall armyworm

Isn’t it interesting how seemingly unrelated events in two countries can lead to the same outcome? The story of identifying the fall armyworm in Africa is as intriguing as the pest itself. In 2015 Ylva Hillbur, IITA’s former Deputy Director General (DDG) Research for Development was in talks with a Swedish team of researchers at…

Why it’s essential to pay attention to plant health

The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH). The objective of IYPH is to raise global awareness on how protecting plant health can help end hunger, reduce poverty, protect the environment, and boost economic development. IITA joins the rest of the world in commemorating IYPH. Over the…

IITA-ACAI trains Liberian extension workers on weed management and agronomy best practices

As part of efforts to transform the Liberian cassava sector, a team from the IITA-led African Cassava Agronomy Initiative (ACAI) trained about 70 extension service providers from across Liberia in Bentol, Montserrado County. The training, which took place in October 2019, centered on the IITA-ACAI developed agronomy toolkit known as the Six Steps to Cassava…