Plant health is an important concern for all. IITA believes that ensuring plant health is pivotal to improve agricultural productivity and food security, and reduce poverty. It is also a key element in IITA’s strategy of intensifying sustainable agriculture. Containing biological threats, among other things, to food security is the real national defense, says IITA DG Hartmann.

IITA has adopted a multipronged strategy to tackle Cassava brown streak disease (CBSD), a serious threat to cassava production, to reduce its effects on cassava in epidemic areas, and prevent its further spread.

A new book, titled Protection de la Nature en Afrique de l’Ouest: Une Liste Rouge pour le Bénin (Nature Conservation in West Africa: Red List for Benin) is now available at IITA.

Irmgard Hoeschle-Zeledon*, i.zeledon@cgiar.org or sp-ipm@cgiar.org
*Coordinator of the CGIAR Systemwide Program on Integrated Pest Management (SP-IPM) convened by IITA
Diverse crop production system. Photo by IITA.
The discussion on the impact of climate change (CC) on agriculture has often focused on how changes in temperature, rainfall, and CO2 concentrations will affect the suitability of temperate regions for crop production and how crops will react in terms of yields. The effects of climate change on biotic factors in the tropics, such as weeds, pests, and pathogens (hereafter referred to as pests), have not received …

Climate change (CC) is a long-term change in the statistical distribution of global weather patterns over periods of time that range from decades to millions of years. Several factors, known as climate forcers, usually natural events such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, solar radiation, and ocean currents shape climate change.
Life on earth is a dynamic process and intimately connected to the biotic forms in cohabitation, farmin systems, and the environment. A shift in one parameter alters the delicate balance in an interconnected world. Source: L. Kumar, IITA.
However, the climate forcer …

Ghana and the Republic of Liberia have agreed to jointly develop, promote, and implement research activities to improve their agricultural sectors.

Cassava value addition is helping African farmers increase their income, and improve livelihoods and food security through the USAID-funded project Unleashing the Power of Cassava (UPoCA).

CIALCA and the CGIAR Consortium Research Program on the Humid Tropics led by IITA will convene an international conference on ‘Challenges and Opportunities for Agricultural Intensification of the Humid-Highland Systems of sub-Saharan Africa’, in Kigali, Rwanda, on 24-27 October 2011.

Malawi and Nigeria have released three improved soybean varieties that can enhance the productivity of the crop and offer farmers better opportunities.

Nigeria has released four improved cassava varieties that would strengthen its lead in cassava production, increase farmers’ incomes, and guarantee food security.