Journalist-Kenya
The 12th
International Plant Virus Epidemiology (IPVE) symposium will take place in
Arusha, Tanzania, between January 28 and 1 February 2013. It will bring
together scientists from across the world and will provide researchers a
platform to share the latest knowledge, brainstorm and come up with a road map
to contain the spread of plant virus diseases.
Themed
“Evolution, Ecology and Control of Plant Viruses,” the conference will take
place at a time when the battle against plant virus diseases is becoming more
complex and the need for food security is demanding more global attention.
It
will be the first time the meeting is taking place in Africa—a continent plagued
by plant viruses of key staple crops, driven by a climate that is getting
warmer.
According
to Dr Nteranya Sanginga, Director General of the International Institute of
Tropical Agriculture (IITA) plant viruses are spreading rapidly to new places, and
are frustrating efforts to boost the food security and livelihoods of millions
of people.
“These
viruses include the deadly cassava brown streak, banana bunchy top disease,
rice yellow mottle, and maize streak virus, among others,” he said in a press release.
“Poor
small-holder farmers--who are majority of the population and of the food
growers, with their limited resources are bearing the brunt of these virus
diseases. They are least able to invest in inputs such as pesticides and
herbicides and improved disease-resistant varieties,” he said. This, he added,
calls for “Science-based solutions to these challenges.”
The meeting
will enable exchange of latest knowledge and technologies to control virus
diseases and pave the way for an African and global strategy to combat emerging
and re-emerging plant virus diseases.
The
meeting is being co-organized by IITA, CGIAR, Bioversity, Mikocheni
Agricultural Research Institute (MARI) in Tanzania, the National Agricultural
Research Organization (NARO) of Uganda, AVRDC—The World Vegetable Center, and
West and Central African Council for Agriculture Research and Development
(WECARD/CORAF) under the auspices of the International Committee on Plant Virus
Epidemiology (ICPVE).
Past
hosts include the United Kingdom, Australia, United States, France, Italy,
Israel, Spain, Peru, Germany, and India played host to IPVE meetings.
The
IPVE is a specialist committee on plant virus epidemiology of the International
Society of Plant Pathology (ISPP). The Committee has previously conducted 11
international symposia in different parts of the world. Distinguished virologists
from over 40 countries are expected to attend this symposium.
Ochieng’ Ogodo is a Nairobi based journalist whose works have been published
in various parts of the world including Africa, the US and Europe. He is the
English-speaking Africa and Middle East region winner for the 2008 Reuters-IUCN
Media Awards for Excellence in Environmental Reporting. He is the chairman of
the Kenya Environment and Science Journalists Association. He can be reached at
ochiengogodo@yahoo.com or ochiengogodo@gmail.com
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