Yam anthracnose disease attacks the water yam, an important food crop in West Africa. In the field, the disease is influenced by the weather, and measuring its severity is subject to human error. Lava Kumar, Kolade Olufisayo and colleagues at IITA have developed a more accurate method to evaluate this disease. A healthy leaf is placed in a Petri dish … Read More

The potato cyst nematode (PCN) is a serious pest from South America which has been found recently in sub-Saharan Africa (Kenya and Rwanda). Surveys with IITA, CIP, the international center for insect physiology and ecology (icipe), the Kenyan government, and other partners (Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services, Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization Kenyatta University, and Food and Agriculture Organization … Read More

Conserving water is important for adapting to climate change, and is crucial for smallholders growing potatoes in semi-arid regions. Collaboration between CIP and institutions in Kenya and China highlights appropriate techniques for saving water: intercropping with legumes and partial root-zone drying irrigation. Across the world, potato growing helps smallholders to generate income and feed their families. Yet many smallholders cannot … Read More

As a new cassava disease spreads across Southeast Asia, researchers respond with a regional strategy to manage it. The viruses that cause cassava mosaic disease (CMD) are spread locally by an insect vector, but move over long distances through stem cuttings, which are used as seed. Understanding the seed networks that spread the disease helps to develop solutions to control … Read More