Maize disease outreach extends to Kenya 2023-09-15
Building on maize disease outreach activities with smallholder farmers in South Africa by the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences and the Grain Research Programme of FABI, Dr David Nsibo and MSc student Jabulile Mahlangu represented the University of Pretoria in farmer outreach activities at the Kenyan Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) in Kakamega, Western Kenya. This was part of a collaboration between the University of Pretoria (Prof. Dave Berger and Dr David Nsibo), Maseno University (Prof. Matthews Dida) and CIMMYT, Kenya (Dr Suresh Mahabaleswara). A maize disease fact sheet for Western Kenya farmers was compiled in English and translated to Swahili for easy use by farmers, extension agents, and researchers. A farmers field day was held in August and officially opened by Dr Joseph Mnyasi, Director of KALRO. The aim of the field day was to sensitize farmers to major foliar and ear rot maize diseases and their management in western Kenya, one of the major maize-producing regions of maize in Kenya. Farmers were enlightened about the major foliar and ear rot diseases, their economic importance to Kenya’s agriculture and Africa as a whole, and how they can identify and manage these diseases at the different growth stages of maize. It was noted that Kenya’s agricultural challenges are not unique to Kenya, and hence there is a need to collaborate with other countries like South Africa to address these challenges through the sharing of knowledge and technologies. It was also emphasized that farmers are key players in the Kenya’s economic growth and hence need to work closely with the government, researchers, and extension agents to ensure that they manage maize diseases effectively. All activities of the day were aired on radio in both English and Luo, and an article was published in one of the local newspapers. As part of the visit, field work was carried out in Kenya for Jabulile’s MSc study on the population diversity of the Northern leaf blight pathogen Exserohilum turcicum. We would like to thank the British Society of Plant Pathology (BSPP) for a grant to Prof. Dave Berger for these outreach and research activities.