Banana Bunchy Top Disease Alliance – Page 4 – Banana Bunchy Top Disease Alliance

Alliance to control the escalating threat of banana bunchy top disease in Africa

The ‘alliance’ is a multinational, multi-stakeholder, interdisciplinary team formed under the framework of the CGIAR Roots, Tubers and Banana (CRP-RTB) program, to mount a coordinated action to halt the expansion of banana bunchy top disease and recover banana production in the disease affected areas, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Banana bunchy top disease (BBTD) is an invasive virus disease seriously threatening banana and plantain production in Africa. This disease caused by the Banana bunchy top virus (BBTV) renders plants unproductive, eventually killing them. Extensive disease spread into new production areas was observed during the last two decades. The Alliance aims to conduct and coordinate R4D efforts to:

Understand the bunchy top disease epidemiology and ecology for a better knowledge on factors driving the disease spread
Develop appropriate management packages to delay the spread and manage the disease in endemic areas
Develop and distribute sensitive diagnostic tools, and develop capacity for disease recognition and knowledge of control options.
Augment host resistance to the virus and explore biocontrol options to manage aphid vector
Establish location-specific clean banana production and distribution systems, and train farmers and entrepreneurs in producing clean planting material
Train African scientists to continue surveillance on the extent of disease incidence to update the spatial distribution map of BBTV spread in SSA
Exert efforts to mobilize the resources necessary for a sustained and long-term initiative to achieve this mission

Alliance is coordinated by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Bioversity International, together with FAO and several national agricultural research systems (Bénin, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, DRC, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, and Zambia) and several research partners from Australia, Asia, Europe, India, Kenya, New Zealand, and USA.

International, multi-stakeholder alliance continue to tackle banana bunchy top disease in Africa

17th November 2021 28th July 2023Uncategorised 0

Up to 16 African countries have now experienced the banana bunchy top disease (BBTD), caused by the banana bunchy top virus (BBTV), which threatens the livelihoods of 70 million vulnerable banana farmers. The virus is also endangering the diversity of banana varieties grown by these farmers. The CGIAR Research Program on…

BBTV in Nigeria

12th August 2021 12th August 2021Uncategorised 0

Banana and plantain (Musa spp.) are important food and cash crop in Nigeria. Banana bunchy top disease (BBTD) is a severe threat to banana production and the most economically important viral disease of banana and plantain worldwide (Kumar et al., 2011). The disease is caused by the banana bunchy top virus (BBTV,…

Training workshop on BBTV control in Togo

7th May 2019 7th May 2019Blog 0

A training workshop was organized on BBTD control at Cacaveli, Lomé, Togo. About 15 staff’s members representing ICAT and Crop protection and University of Lomé attended the workshop held on 2-April 2019. The training was carried into three sections Introduction to BBTD and control measures: about the BBTD disease, the…

Building Regional Capacity to Contain Banana Bunchy Top Disease (BBTD) Spread in West Africa

28th January 2019 28th January 2019Uncategorised 0

A training workshop on “Banana Bunchy Top Disease (BBTD) diagnosis, surveillance and emergency response” was held 14 to 16 January 2019 at IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria. The workshop, sponsored by the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (CRP-RTB), was attended by 20 participants from Togo – Direction de la Protection des Végétaux (DPV), Institut de…

Training Workshop on BBTD Diagnostics and Surveillance

11th January 2019 11th January 2019Uncategorised 0

IITA planned a training workshop on “Banana bunchy top disease (BBTD) diagnosis, surveillance and emergency response” from 14th to 16th January 2019 at IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria. Purpose of the workshop is to offer hands-on training in application of on-field diagnostics for the detection of banana bunchy top virus (BBTV) using…

BBTD Awareness Day in Cameroon

3rd December 2018 6th December 2018Uncategorised 0

Farmers day was organized to generate awareness about the Banana bunchy top virus (BBTV) disease in Amban City Hall, Cameroon on 20th November 2018, to inform “bunchy top” infected plants are not “suckers”, how to recognize disease infected plants and means of eradication. Event co-hosted by IITA and MINAGRI as…