Collaboration on research and training to control banana Xanthomonas wilt in East and Central Africa
Xanthomonas wilt is a bacterial disease threatening banana production in East and Central Africa. New collaborative research involving Bioversity International, IITA and partners in Uganda and DR Congo is providing options to control the disease.
Banana Xanthomonas wilt – a bacterial disease spread by insects, birds, bats, larger animals, and farm tools – is the biggest constraint for banana production in East and Central Africa. Since its appearance in Uganda in the early 2000s, Xanthomonas wilt has spread rapidly in the region, causing food insecurity and income loss.
Bioversity International and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) have collaborated with the Uganda National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO), the Democratic Republic of Congo’s National Institute for Agronomic Study and Research, and other partners on basic research, field testing options for controlling the disease and scaling-out effective control approaches.
Read more about this collaborative research in the 2016 Annual Report of the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas
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Image: Poster on the single diseased stem removal technique (SDSR), one of the management practices that have been shown to be effective in controlling Xanthomonas wilt. Credit: Bioversity International.