B4FA Fellow Lominda Afedraru reports
Farmers across Africa are engaged in growing cassava which is considered as food security and industrial crop but the plant is vulnerable to a broad range of diseases as well as less known viral strains.
In East Africa the most common are Cassava Brown Streak Virus (CBSV), …
Michael J. Ssali, B4FA Fellow, writes:
Crops harvested in fresh form usually get spoiled in a short time if no effort is made to preserve them.
The same happens to animal food products such as fish, meat, and milk. When food is spoiled it develops an offensive smell, an unpleasant appearance and …
‘He who has bread may have troubles, He who lacks it has only one.’Old Byzantine proverb
Since 1950 the world’s population has almost tripled to 7.7 billion and until recently the relative abundance of food has kept pace, with the poorest benefiting the most. Over the years the so-called Green Revolution, despite …
Following fears and concerns by some civil society orgnisations and farmers over the safety of the newly commercialised Bt Cowpea (beans), scientists have reaffirmed that the pulse is safe for consumption.The president of the National Biotechnology and Bio-safety Consortium (NBBC), Prof. Celestine Agboru, during a news conference in Abuja, debunked …
Global warming and changes in the amount – and location – of water, are key factors in the need to continue crop breeding programs. In addition, there are many diseases that affect crop yield and quality. We need to continue breeding new disease resistant crop varieties to ensure a healthy, …
Reporter Joseph Opoku Gakpo tells the story of how African farmers are excited about GMO maize engineered to resist the destructive stem borer pest, which has also shown promising resistance to the devastating fall armyworm pest. Watch the …
Plant pests and diseases are significantly reducing yields of five major food crops across the globe, underscoring the critical need to develop new resistant varieties, according to a new study.
Some 137 pathogens and pests cause losses of 10 to 40 percent in the staple crops — wheat, maize (corn), soybeans, …
Crops and foods today are not what they used to look like.
Farmers and plant breeders have been modifying plant genes since the earliest human communities were formed and farming took hold in order to develop crops that better resist pests and foods with improved nutrition and taste.
Biotechnology proponents, particularly agro-biotechnology …
B4FA Fellow Lominda Afedraru reports
If you manage to visit farmers growing cereal crops in most parts of East Africa including Uganda, you will notice striga weed infestation is a huge challenge.
Striga also known as witch weed, is a coerce plant parasitic weed which infests roots of the host plant …
B4FA Fellow Lominda Afedraru writes:
Forests and trees are crucial to the lives of many Ugandans, especially the rural communities who rely on them for food, employment and as an income earning initiative.
This is achieved through increased resilience of human made and natural growing of tree species for both wood and …
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