{"id":13724,"date":"2026-06-20T12:30:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/iita-scientists-spearhead-efforts-to-save-east-africas-potatoes-from-a-new-pest-threat\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T21:36:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T21:36:45","slug":"iita-scientists-spearhead-efforts-to-save-east-africas-potatoes-from-a-new-pest-threat","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/iita-scientists-spearhead-efforts-to-save-east-africas-potatoes-from-a-new-pest-threat\/","title":{"rendered":"IITA scientists spearhead efforts to save East Africa\u2019s potatoes from a new pest threat"},"content":{"rendered":"Scientists at CGIAR-IITA<\/a>, working with the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe<\/em><\/a>) under the joint Nematology Unit, Nem<\/em>Africa, housed at icipe<\/em>\u2019s campus in Nairobi, and their national and international partners, have been at the forefront of efforts to address a new emerging pest threat to the production of potato in the East Africa region, and in many other countries in the world. These are the parasitic microscopic worms known as Potato Cyst Nematodes (PCN). These destructive pests attack potato roots and can cause yield losses of up to 80%, and in some instances, even total crop failure.\n\n
\"PCN
PCN cysts (white) on roots.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\nPCN consist mostly of two species, Globodera rostochiensis<\/em>\u00a0et\u00a0Globodera pallida, <\/em>both of which have recently been discovered attacking potato in Kenya. G. rostochiensis<\/em>\u00a0however, has since been shown to be widespread across Kenya and has additionally been detected further afield in Uganda and Rwanda.\n\n\u201cPCNs are among the most destructive potato pests globally. They are particularly lethal because each female nematode produces hundreds of eggs\u00ad\u00ad\u2014between 300 and 500, which remain protected in a cyst formed by their body after they die. These cysts can remain dormant in the soil for years, awaiting the next potato crop host. Because of the dangers they pose, PCNs have been designated as quarantine pests in many countries, to strictly control their spread,\u201d says Danny Coyne<\/a>, a leading nematologist and Soil Health Scientist at IITA.\n

Establishing the prevalence of potato nematodes in the region<\/h3>\nFollowing the detection of G. rostochiensis<\/em> in Kenya in 2015, IITA scientists in partnership with their counterparts at icipe<\/em> and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), among others, conducted a country-wide survey which found that G. rostochiensis<\/em> was not only widespread throughout the country, including areas bordering Uganda and Tanzania, but also in very high concentrations. These findings were published in the paper, Potato Cyst Nematodes: A new threat to potato production in East Africa<\/a>, published in May 2020 in Frontiers in Plant Science<\/em>.\n\n
\"Researchers
Researchers evaluating a potato field for resistance to PCN.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\nThe team also established the presence of the pest in Uganda, and the findings were published as a<\/u> First report of potato cyst nematodes Globodera rostochiensis<\/em> (Wollenweber, 1923), infecting potato (Solanum tuberosum<\/em> L.) in Uganda<\/a> in June 2020 in Plant Disease<\/em>.\u00a0 Researchers in Rwanda have also detected these nematodes in the country.\n

Suicide hatch\u2014an effective PCN management strategy<\/h3>\nIITA scientists and their partners are also engaged in a study to explore an innovative approach to effectively control these pests using \u201csuicide hatch\u201d. The hatching of nematode eggs from their protective cyst into the soils, where they then find the host plant roots, is triggered by chemicals that are released by the potato roots. The newly hatched juvenile nematodes then use other chemical signals from the roots to locate and infect the potato roots.\n\nIdentifying these chemicals and synthetically producing them may offer possibilities for manipulating PCN to hatch in farmers\u2019 fields before potatoes are planted, and in the absence of the host to feed on, the nematodes will starve to death\u2014\u201csuicide hatch\u201d.\n\n
\"Msc
Msc student, Juliet Ochola, researching on \u201csuicide hatching\u201d as an effective ways to control nematode, looking at the pest with a microscope in the laboratory.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\nThe study findings were published in the paper, Mediation of potato\u2013Potato Cyst Nematode, G. rostochiensis<\/em> interaction by specific root exudate compounds<\/a> dans Frontiers in Plant Science<\/em>.\n\nIITA researchers are also working with partners, including the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS)<\/a>, James Hutton Institute<\/a> in UK, and the Centre international de la pomme de terre (CIP)<\/a>, among others, to identify suitable potato cultivars with resistance against the nematodes and similar attributes to farmers\u2019 preferred varieties.\n\nThe team will increase its efforts to find an effective solution to this menace, which can spell doom for potato and the food and income of millions of people in the region.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scientists at CGIAR-IITA, working with the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) under the joint Nematology Unit, NemAfrica, housed at icipe\u2019s campus in Nairobi, and their national and international partners, have been at the forefront of efforts to address a new emerging pest threat to the production of potato in the East Africa region, and in many other countries in the world.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":13725,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[577],"science-area":[],"program":[],"location":[28],"news-type":[],"hub":[62],"crop":[],"impact-areas":[],"item-year":[198],"class_list":["post-13724","news-item","type-news-item","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-nematodespotatopotato-cyst-nematode","location-kenya","hub-eastern-africa","item-year-198"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/13724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news-item"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/13724\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30340,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/13724\/revisions\/30340"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13724"},{"taxonomy":"science-area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/science-area?post=13724"},{"taxonomy":"program","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program?post=13724"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=13724"},{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=13724"},{"taxonomy":"hub","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hub?post=13724"},{"taxonomy":"crop","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/crop?post=13724"},{"taxonomy":"impact-areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/impact-areas?post=13724"},{"taxonomy":"item-year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/item-year?post=13724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}