WHEN Dr Joseph Ndunguru of Mikocheni Agricultural Research Institute speaks about cutting edge science, he does so with passion. He believes that such science is possible in Tanzania – and that agricultural biotechnology remains the best option to improving food production among resource-poor farmers, says the country’s presidential science laureate Joseph Ndunguru.
“Modern biotechnology holds considerable promise to meet challenges in agricultural production,” Dr Ndunguru said at a public lecture on the theme, “Agricultural Biotechnology: Translating ‘science’ into food and cash for the poor” held at Nkrumah Hall, University of Dar es Salaam last Thursday.
An experienced and internationally acclaimed molecular plant virologist, Dr Ndunguru also encouraged young graduates and aspiring researchers to embrace agricultural biotech, a brave new world for those ready to probe the country’s rich plant kingdom. Tanzania stands to gain a great deal from scientific research.
One area that the country could tap into is in the interesting field of nanotechnology. It is discouraging to learn that Tanzania might be losing its genetic wealth to other countries due to lack of research capacity. At a public lecture jointly organised by the university’s College of Natural and Applied Sciences and of the Open Forum for Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB — Tanzania chapter) currently housed at the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH), Dr Ndunguru said agricultural biotechnology was key to a ‘food-secure’ Africa, he added and encouraged science graduates to join the fight against crop diseases.
Dr Ndunguru pioneering work on cassava has tremendous impact on a crop which still suffers massive losses from virus attacks, notably cassava mosaic viral disease. Last year, he led a team of African scientists applying biotechnology technique discovered two novel DNA strains that are associated with cassava mosaic and cassava brown streak diseases, both known to cost Africa between $1.9 and $2.7 billion annually – in itself an opportunity “for translating science into food and cash for the poor African farmers;” he argued.
Agricultural biotechnology was key to a ‘food-secure’ Africa, he added and encouraged science graduates to join the fight against crop diseases, saying: “We have the capacity to train … we’re currently working with Masters and PhD students … cutting edge science is possible in Tanzania and we don’t need foreigners to do the job for us, ” he said.
Cassava is highly susceptible to viral diseases and the disease pressure had been mounting over the years. When a scientist started studying the DNA of these viruses in the 1980s, scientists knew about only a handful of species. “Today, there are more than 200 species – plus 600 or 700 isolates – affecting all kinds of crops, particularly in tropical countries where the insect vectors, which spread these viruses, are present year-round,” he said.
Cassava, a widely known and grown staple food in many parts of Tanzania, Africa and other parts of the world, has come under severe attack. This time around, it is not about climate change, but rather several biotic and abiotic factors, among which cassava mosaic disease (CMD) and cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) constitute the main threat to cassava productivity.
CMD is caused by cassava mosaic begomoviruses (CMBGs) where as CBSD is caused by cassava brown streak virus (CBSV). In Tanzania, for example, cassava is an important crop for both food security and income generation for low income people. In Coast Region, cassava is one of the main food crops. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives, the annual production of fresh cassava is seven million metric tonnes.
In sub-Saharan Africa and Asia cassava is a staple food and is eaten by over seven hundred million people. However, two thirds of more than 18 million hectares of cassava cultivated worldwide are produced in Africa. Cassava has potential for industrial use in production of starch and bio fuel.
The cassava leaves are also used for food in many communities in Africa including Tanzania. Despite its potential benefits, cassava is threatened by cassava mosaic disease (CMD) and cassava brown streak diseases (CBSD). The rate at which the viruses of the two diseases multiply is shocking, especially given the fact that the farmers are ignorant of the diseases.
As such, they would leave the already infected plant to spread the viruses without taking appropriate measures. According to Dr Ndunguru, CMD and CBSD have become a serious constraint to sustainable production of food and fibre crops in Sub- Saharan Africa including cassava. During the last decade, these plant pathogens have increased in number, distribution and importance and in some places, they have forced farmers to abandon their fields.
Dr Ndunguru who is a molecular plant virologist says at the moment, the diseases have no cure, however, efforts are undergoing by different scientists to research on the diseases which threaten the existence of the cassava crop. He says, meanwhile the farmers can only uproot the infected plants at its infant stage before it spreads the viruses to other plants.
He also says the farmers can also stop using the already infected plants as seeds for the next planting season to fight the infection. Chipping in, the Chairman, Department of horticulture, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Dr Elija Ateka says a recent quantitative survey conducted in four major cassava growing areas in Kenya to determine the status of cassava shows a presence of the CDD and CBSD.
He named the four provinces as Eastern, Nyanza, Western and the coast. Dr Ateka says the diseases have caused difficulties to sustain production and development of cassava in Kenya. He says as a result, when people venture into cassava related industries, they don’t last longer as they quickly close their industries because of poor quality or lack of raw materials to sustainably run their factories. “Even those who had just started, when they see their fellows closing their industries, they feel insecure or are simply discouraged. So, they can’t continue any more,” he says.
It is from this background that last week from 14th to 16th Feb this year, a total of 70 scientists and stakeholders from 11 countries in Africa launched this project of disease diagnostics for sustainable cassava productivity which is building on phase one.
The regional initiative is funded at a tune of 9,487,448m/- by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the Department for International Development (DFID) and it is led by national agricultural research scientists from Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia working together with a common goal and vision to manage virus diseases affecting cassava in collaboration with partners from centres and universities in the USA and UK.
When officiating at the launch of phase two of this project for diagnosing and managing important cassava viral diseases in Africa, the Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives, Adam Malima said under normal circumstances, cassava yields could be as high as between 25 to 40 tons per hectare. In Sub-Saharan Africa, however, yields are very low and sometimes less than 5 tons per hectare due to the diseases.
The Deputy Minister says in 2005 for example, CMD alone caused crop losses of 4 M metric tons per year in Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. On the other hand, CBSD caused estimated crop losses in Tanzania of between 35 and 70 million USD per year calculated at a price of 100 USD per metric tons of fresh cassava.
Conservative loss estimates based upon the minimum average prices of high quality cassava flour in Dar es Salaam would make this at least 70-140 million USD at wholesale and 175-350 million USD at retail. He said that for sustainable management of cassava virus diseases, we need to build the capacity of the national research institutions in terms of human and infrastructure as well as establishing and strengthening regional networks.
“This project addresses key aspects of improving cassava productivity and food security including: Understanding the threat from evolving viruses and vectors, support clean seed systems for farmers and building sustainable regional capacity. It also aims to minimise the persistent occurrence of cassava viruses and their associated vectors. It is anticipated that the project will benefit cassava farmers, commercial planting materials production, trade and the future development of a cassava-based industry in Africa,” he said.
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