IITA will conduct a training on disease surveillance and control methods to help build the capacity of national partners to combat deadly banana diseases that are wreaking havoc across sub-Saharan Africa and threatening the livelihoods and food security of over 70 million people.
The training, though covering all the major banana diseases in the region, will especially focus on the Banana Bunchy Top Disease (BBTD). Staff from national research institutions and government bodies from Burundi, DR Congo, Kenya, Rw anda, Tanzania, Ug anda and Zambia will be trained on recognition of disease symptoms in the field and disease confirmation using biotechnology tools in the laboratory.
Participants will also be trained on spatial disease surveillance methods using Geographical Positioning Systems (GPS) and the development of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) maps showing the presence and spread of the diseases. Hein Bouwmeester, IITA GIS expert based in Tanzania, will facilitate this section of the training.
The workshop will also forge links between ongoing and planned surveillance activities for Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW), another deadly disease, to create a regional disease surveillance network.
Fen Beed, IITA Plant Pathologist and coordinator of the training, says that BBTD and BXW are of great concern because they are easily transmitted through infected planting material and certain insects. As no banana varieties are known to be resistant to the diseases, all familiar banana types – cooking, juicing, dessert and plantain – are in danger of being wiped out if urgent action is not taken.
Beed adds that the training concentrates on the seven countries because there have been reports of the presence of BBTD or they are at high risk of contracting the disease from neighboring countries. For instance, he says, southwest Ug anda is in danger of getting BBTD as the disease is present in northern Rw anda and eastern DR Congo.
“Where a disease is not yet present but is likely to be introduced, an effective surveillance system increases awareness of the disease symptoms and the chances of the disease being reported by farmers and their representatives when it does arrive” he explains. “Early detection permits destruction of infected plants to prevent disease establishment and spread.”
He adds, “where a disease has been reported and confirmed, the use of GPS-linked spatial surveillance helps to specify its presence across a targeted region. It determines whether only a single plant is infected, or one small area, or across the region.”
BBTD is a viral disease that results in narrow bunched leaves and stunted fruitless plants, which eventually die. It is very difficult to identify in newly infected plants and is often missed by farmers and government agencies in the region resulting in its unabated spread. BXW is a bacterial disease that causes yellowing and wilting of the leaves, uneven and premature ripening of the fruits and eventually, the plants rot to their death. The symptoms are often confused with those of the panama disease and nutrient deficiencies.
The training is organized by IITA in collaboration with the Rw anda Agriculture Development Authority (RADA) and the Rw andan Agricultural Research Institute (Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Rw anda – ISAR), and funded by the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). It will be held from 25 to 29 January 2010 in Kigali, Rw anda.
Following the training, the participants will carry out a series of targeted surveys to establish the distribution of BBTD, funded by FAO.
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For more information, please contact:
Dr Fen Beed, f.beed@cgiar.org
Plant Pathologist (East, Central and Southern Africa),
IITA-Ug anda
Catherine Njuguna, c.njuguna@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Officer (Eastern and Southern Africa)
IITA – Regional hub for East and Southern Africa
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Jeffrey T. Oliver, o.jeffrey@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Officer (International)
Communication Office
IITA – Headquarters
Ibadan, Nigeria
URL: www.iita.org
About IITA
Africa has complex problems that plague agriculture and people’s lives. We develop agricultural solutions with our partners to tackle hunger and poverty. Our award winning research for development (R4D) is based on focused, authoritative thinking anchored on the development needs of sub-Saharan Africa. We work with partners in Africa and beyond to reduce producer and consumer risks, enhance crop quality and productivity, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is an international non-profit R4D organization since 1967, governed by a Board of Trustees, and supported primarily by the CGIAR.
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