Banana Bunchy Top Disease Alliance – Page 5 – 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.

Event: Training course on Diagnosis of Banana Bunchy Top Virus Infections in Banana

4th April 2017 6th December 2018Events 0

Training course on Diagnosis of Banana Bunchy Top Virus Infections in Banana will hold between 6th April, 2017 to 14th April, 2017.

A new project to control bunchy top disease in West Africa launched by The University of Queensland

15th February 2017 6th December 2018blog post 0

A project aimed at boosting banana production and improving livelihoods of banana farmers in communities blighted by the banana bunchy top disease (BBTD) in Nigeria and also in Benin, led by The University of Queensland (Australia) was launched at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, on 27 May…

The BBTV ALLIANCE team rendezvous in Nigeria

22nd May 2016 6th December 2018blog post 0

Multidisciplinary team of experts meet in IITA, Nigeria, to take stock and discuss plans to stop the further spread of banana bunchy top disease debilitating banana production in sub-Saharan Africa The International Institute of Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan is hosting the 3rd Annual Workshop of the Banana Bunchy Top Virus…

Campaign to stop BBTD in Nigeria

14th March 2016 6th December 2018blog post 0

The ‘Stop Bunchy Top’ campaign to prevent the spread of the Banana Bunchy Top Disease (BBTD) in Nigeria was launched by IITA in partnership with the Nigerian Agriculture Quarantine Service (NAQS), National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT), and the Ogun State Ministry of Agriculture on 3 December, in Abeokuta, Ogun State.…

Farmer field days rising awareness about banana bunchy top

23rd November 2015 6th December 2018blog post 0

On 2 September, IITA organized a field day for farmers and extension workers in Idologun, Ogun State, as part of efforts to control the recent invasion of the Banana Bunchy Top Disease (BBTD) in Nigeria. The field day aimed to demonstrate and deploy control measures for the eradication of infected…

Alliance organized a training course on banana virus diagnostics

23rd November 2015 6th December 2018blog post 0

The BBTD Alliance partners – Bioversity, CIRAD and IITA – have organized a training course on ‘Banana virus diagnostics for clean seed production, safe germplasm exchange and surveillance of invasive bunchy top disease’ with a purpose to help develop diagnostics capacity of national systems in Africa. The course was held…