CIAT, partners raise awareness about disease affecting cassava

The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in cooperation with the Plant Protection Center recently raised awareness among key stakeholders about the witches broom disease that affects on cassava.
The workshop on the cassava witches broom disease (CWBD), held in Vientiane, was co-organised by the two organisations and was co-chaired by the Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture, Mr Bounsu Soudmaly, and the Cassava Programme leader, Dr Jonathan Newby.
The event attracted participants from provincial agriculture and forestry offices, district agriculture and forestry offices, the Lao National Cassava Association, farmers, INGOs and technical experts
The workshop addressed the growing concern of CWBD in Laos since the disease significantly impacts cassava production and affects the quality of planting material. CIAT and the Plant Protection Center shared the findings of a preliminary pre-season survey and highlighted how the disease is moving to different locations through diseased cassava stems.
The workshop was also aimed at raising awareness about CWBD and provided participants with knowledge about different disease management practices, including a simple method of identifying disease-free cassava stems for planting and where disease-free plantlets can be sourced.
A highlight of the workshop was a visit to the Rice and Cash Crops Research Center, where participants learned about various cassava research activities, including disease screening, cassava tissue propagation, rapid cassava propagation in tunnels, and experiments aimed at identifying disease-resistant varieties.

By Times Reporters
 (Latest Update July 18, 2024)