NEWS IN GHANA

Dr. Fen of IITA & Dennis Ochola of Biodiversity afflicted farm in Northern Mozambique An     African    consortium of international researchers and growers, backed by policymakers in regional blocs of   eastern and southern Africa has declared   “war” against   Fusarium oxysporum   f. sp.   cubense   tropical race 4 (Foc TR4), a highly pathogenic form of the banana Fusarium wilt, previously confined to Asia, but recently introduced to a farm in northern Mozambique. FoC TR4 (also known as Panama disease) is caused by a fungal strain that can survive for decades in the soil, and once introduced to a country has never been previously eradicated. Production of Cavendish types of banana which dominate export markets, and some other local forms of banana, has been devastated across Asia, no thanks to Foc TR4. Its introduction to Africa, probably by infected planting material by people, has already had a massive impact on the c...

About 20 African countries have thrown their weight behind the IITA Youth Agripreneur (IYA) initiative—a pilot scheme that is engaging youths in agriculture with clear signals of ending youth unemployment in the continent. The initiative has also been endorsed by the IITA Board of Trustees, according to Dr Namanga Ngongi, IITA Board member.    IYA changes the mindset of young people towards agriculture and equips them with various opportunities in the production and marketing of agricultural products, cutting across value chains such as cassava, banana/plantain, soybean, maize, vegetables, livestock, and fish production.    The countries supported the IYA initiative in a communiqué at the end of a conceptualization workshop on Engagement of Youth Entrepreneurship for Agricultural Transformation in Africa that was held at IITA in Ibadan, Nigeria, from 28 to 30 May 2014.    About 200 participants reviewed the current unemployment situation in the contin...

Improved maize germplasm developed by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and disseminated across Africa is improving livelihoods, and the impact on the continent is greater than earlier imagined, according to the President of the International Corn Foundation, Dr Soon Kwon Kim.      In a seminar organized by IITA West Africa Hub today entitled: “Promotion of IITA maize streak resistant (SR) varieties and   Striga   tolerant or resistant (STR) varieties to ten African countries with Korean Government Support,” Dr Kim reviewed the contribution of maize streak resistant varieties and   Striga   tolerant or resistant varieties across the continent.      Probably the most devastating disease that attacks maize in Africa, maize streak virus (MSV), leads to stunting, and farmers may lose 100 percent of the crop.   Striga   (a parasitic weed), on the other hand, attacks cereals and legumes and losses ...

   Maize farm damaged by Striga    Improved technologies being promoted by the   Integrated Striga Management for Africa (ISMA) project have shown promise that   Striga —a parasitic weed that destroys cereal and legume fields—can be eradicated from Africa.   Infesting up to 4 million hectares of land under maize production in sub-Saharan Africa, Striga   causes farmers yield losses of up to 80% representing about US$1.2 billion, and affects approximately 100 million people in the continent. In the last three years, the ISMA project has deployed an integrated approach for managing Striga   while improving soil fertility and reducing the   Striga   seed bank for sustainable increases in crop yields in some selected communities in Nigeria and Kenya.      Specifically, these included cultural practices such as intercropping maize with legumes (soybean and groundnut); crop rotation of maize with soybean; ...

The negative consequences of climate change on agricultural production and productivity are with us and resolutions must be implemented to save West and Central Africa, said the Director General, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Dr Nteranya Sanginga. Addressing national and international researchers attending a conference on  Biotic stresses, climate change and agricultural production  in Cotonou, Bénin, on Monday, Dr Sanginga noted that the emergence of agricultural pests such as the papaya mealybug was closely linked to climate change, and stressed that there was the need to go beyond rhetoric to action. “Whatever recommendations we make at this meeting, let’s work towards implementing them,” he said. The Director General pinpointed to agricultural research and the capacity development of adequate human resources as the critical tools needed to tackle the challenges posed by climate change. He cited the example of cassava pests (cassava mealybug) in w...

A center of excellence for research and training to link climate change with biodiversity and biotic stresses was launched this week in the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) campus in the Republic of Benin. This follows a major conference on Biotic stresses, climate change and agricultural production in Cotonou, Bénin, held on 5-7 May.      The Center, which comes under the auspices of the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD) has IITA, the National Institute of Agricultural Research of Bénin (INRAB), AfricaRice, Bioversity, the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), and the University of Abomey Calavi (UAC) as partners but is also open to other national agricultural research systems in the West and Central African bloc.      The Center was inaugurated by the Republic of Bénin’s Minister of Agriculture, Madame Fatouma Amadou Djibril; COR...

Drs Dashiel,Sanginga and Mr. Ulvmoen The Director General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Dr Nteranya Sanginga has called on Governments to make use of the potential in agriculture to create wealth and jobs. In his address delivered to stakeholders at the Oyo State Economic Summit, Dr Sanginga said there were opportunities for the youth to start small businesses in seed production, input supply, weed control, and processing, among others. Represented by Dr Kenton Dashiell, Deputy Director General for Partnerships & Capacity Development, Dr Sanginga further explained that the youth could also be farmers and use modern methods that reduce the labor required, raise   yields, and increase income. Citing the example of the IITA Youth Agripreneurs model, Dr Sanginga said that there was the need to change the mindset of the youth. He explained that the Youth Agripreneurs project – the first of its kind in the CGIAR—engages young people ...