Fungicides application timing, sequencing, and tank mixing for controlling blight in chickpea

Non-Peer ReviewedTotal crop losses can result from ascochyta blight on chickpea (caused by Ascochyta rabiei). A study was conducted to investigate effective fungicide application strategies in particular fungicide application timing as well as product choices, sequencing and mixtures for blight control. In addition, this study is expected to provide information on resistance management through fungicide rotations, mixtures or sequences. Fungicide trials were conducted in Saskatoon and Swift Current using Bravo 500, Quadris, Headline, BAS510 and Dithane in various sequences or tank mixes on cultivars Myles and CDC Yuma. Only Bravo 500 is registered on chickpea. Quadris had emergency registration in 2002. Applications were timed at the seedling stage, pre-flower, early-flower, late-flower and the podding stages. These results relate to the trial at Swift Current. Cultivar CDC Yuma developed higher infection levels than Myles. The level of disease control by each fungicide treatment was dependent on cultivar. The above average rainfall in Swift Current increased the level of blight severity and consequently it required several sprays especially on cultivar CDC Yuma to protect the crop. Cool wet weather towards the end of the season also delayed maturity and affected yield and seed quality. Disease severity was 97% and 82% in the untreated plots of CDC Yuma and Myles, respectively. In treated plots, it ranged from 13-50% in Myles and 15-96% in CDC Yuma. The yields varied from 434 to1956 kg/ha for CDC Yuma and 1430 to 2627 kg/ha for Myles. When spraying started before symptoms (per calender sprays with five applications), the high rate of Dithane at 2.44 kg a.i./ha reduced disease severity and increased yield more than the low rate of Dithane at 1.68kg a.i./ha. Sequencing Headline and Dithane in the per calender spray was better than per calender sprays with Dithane alone on both cultivars. However, per calender spray with a high rate of Dithane alone compared well with some treatments which included Headline or Quadris on Myles. Almost all other sequences were effective on Myles, but on CDC Yuma the most effective were those that included mostly Headline and in some cases Quadris. In general, at least three sprays to Myles and most treatments with at least four sprays to CDC Yuma reduced blight to less than 50% and also increased yields by up to 84% in Myles and up to 351% in CDC Yuma. The results suggest that there could be a range of different fungicides and sequences one might use to adequately protect chickpea, but this will depend on the registration of products other than Bravo 500

Fungicide application timing for management of Ascochyta blight in chickpea

Non-Peer ReviewedAscochyta blight of chickpea [Ascochyta rabiei] is an extremely destructive disease capable of causing high yield and quality losses. The disease is widespread in chickpea growing areas of the prairies, and the pathogen can survive in crop debris for several years. Although partially resistant cultivars are available, the disease can still be devastating if weather conditions are favourable, making fungicides an important disease management tool. Trials investigating the effectiveness of different fungicide application timings and sequences were conducted on the desi cv. Myles and the kabuli cv. CDC Yuma at Saskatoon in 2003. The products used included Bravo 500, Headline, and Lance. The first application was made prior to flowering, when disease pressure was still extremely low. Additional applications were made at early flower, mid-flower, late flower or podding, with a maximum of three applications per treatment. In both cultivars, treatments without a pre-flower application of fungicide had higher disease severity and lower yields than treatments with a pre-flower application. Treatments without a pre-flower application that were sprayed three times were still inferior to treatments with a pre-flower application that were only sprayed twice. These results emphasize the need for early and frequent scouting for disease symptoms in chickpea to allow for early fungicide application if it is appropriate

Disease management strategies for Ascochyta blight of chickpea

Non-Peer ReviewedManagement of chickpea ascochyta blight is a difficult task that requires ongoing attention and utilization of all possible techniques. Starting with clean seed of a resistant cultivar is critical, but even with this sound foundation, fungicide application is often necessary. Optimizing fungicide application strategies in chickpea is essential to protect the crop while simultaneously keeping costs as low as possible. Field experiments showed that early application of fungicide is crucial, and often additional applications were necessary for effective disease management. Of the product sequences tested, those including two strobilurin applications and two other applications during the season gave superior disease control in several cases, but this did not always confer higher yields. Nozzle type had no effect on disease development or yield in any of the field site-years. Similarly in the laboratory study, nozzle types had no effect on the amount of spray coverage or the degree of spray penetration into the crop canopy. A similar laboratory study comparing carrier volumes showed that using a higher carrier volume (>100 L ha-1) improves penetration of a fern leaf-type canopy, but offered no benefit in a unifoliate canopy. In the field, increasing carrier volume did not improve disease control when disease pressure was low to moderate. In some cases under high disease pressure, higher carrier volumes were important for achieving disease control

Genetic improvement of chickpea for western Canada

Non-Peer ReviewedThe chickpea crop has experienced a roller-coaster ride over the past decade in western Canada. Production rose rapidly in the late 1990’s, followed by dramatic declines in the past two years. Instability can be attributed to many factors including commodity prices, erratic weather patterns, Ascochyta blight and late maturity. This paper summarizes current research on genetic improvement of chickpea at the University of Saskatchewan, with particular emphasis on efforts to improve Ascochyta blight resistance and to develop varieties with earlier maturity. Under ‘average’ weather conditions, chickpea remains an excellent nitrogen-fixing crop for the Brown and Dark Brown soil zones

Effect of HIV self-testing on the number of sexual partners among female sex workers in Zambia: A randomized controlled trial

Objectives: To assess the effect of two health system approaches to distribute HIV selftests on the number of female sex workers’ client and nonclient sexual partners. Design: Cluster randomized controlled trial. Methods: Peer educators recruited 965 participants. Peer educator–participant groups were randomized 1 : 1 : 1 to one of three arms: delivery of HIV self-tests directly from a peer educator, free facility-based delivery of HIV self-tests in exchange for coupons, or referral to standard-of-care HIV testing. Participants in all three arms completed four peer educator intervention sessions, which included counseling and condom distribution. Participants were asked the average number of client partners they had per night at baseline, 1 and 4 months, and the number of nonclient partners they had in the past 12 months (at baseline) and in the past month (at 1 month and 4 months). Results: At 4 months, participants reported significantly fewer clients per night in the direct delivery arm (mean difference 0.78 clients, 95% CI 1.28 to 0.28, P ¼ 0.002) and the coupon arm (0.71, 95% CI 1.21 to 0.21, P ¼ 0.005) compared with standard of care. Similarly, they reported fewer nonclient partners in the direct delivery arm (3.19, 95% CI 5.18 to 1.21, P ¼ 0.002) and in the coupon arm (1.84, 95% CI 3.81 to 0.14, P ¼ 0.07) arm compared with standard of care. Conclusion: Expansion of HIV self-testing may have positive behavioral effects enhancing other HIV prevention efforts among female sex workers in Zambia. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02827240. Copyrigh

Eliciting expert judgements to underpin our understanding of faecal indicator organism loss from septic tank systems

Septic tank systems (STS) in rural catchments represent a potential source of microbial pollution to watercourses; however, data concerning the risk of faecal indicator organism (FIO) export from STS to surface waters are scarce. In the absence of empirical data, elicitation of expert judgements can provide an alternative approach to aid understanding of FIO pollution risk from STS. Our study employed a structured elicitation process using the Sheffield Elicitation Framework to obtain expert judgements on the proportion of FIOs likely to be delivered from STS to watercourses, based on 36 scenarios combining: (i) septic tank effluent movement risk, driven by soil hydro-morphological characteristics; (ii) distance of septic tank to watercourse; and (iii) degree of slope. Experts used the tertile method to elicit a range of values representing their beliefs of the proportion of FIOs likely to be delivered to a watercourse for each scenario. The experts judged that 93 % of FIOs would likely be delivered from an STS to a watercourse under the highest risk scenario that combined (i) very high STS effluent movement risk, (ii) STS distance to watercourse 25 %. Under the lowest risk scenario, the proportion of FIOs reaching a watercourse would likely reduce to 5 %. Expert confidence was high for scenarios that represented extremes of risk, while uncertainty increased for scenarios depicting intermediate risk conditions. The behavioural aggregation process employed to obtain a consensus among the experts proved to be useful for highlighting both areas of strong consensus and high uncertainty. The latter therefore represent priorities for future empirical research to further improve our understanding of potential pollution risk from septic tanks and in turn enable better assessments of potential threats to water quality in rural catchments throughout the world where decentralised wastewater systems are common

Root-hair endophyte stacking in finger millet creates a physicochemical barrier to trap the fungal pathogen Fusarium graminearum

The ancient African crop, finger millet, has broad resistance to pathogens including the toxigenic fungus Fusarium graminearum. Here, we report the discovery of a novel plant defence mechanism resulting from an unusual symbiosis between finger millet and a root-inhabiting bacterial endophyte, M6 (Enterobacter sp.). Seed-coated M6 swarms towards root-invading Fusarium and is associated with the growth of root hairs, which then bend parallel to the root axis, subsequently forming biofilm-mediated microcolonies, resulting in a remarkable, multilayer root-hair endophyte stack (RHESt). The RHESt results in a physical barrier that prevents entry and/or traps F. graminearum, which is then killed. M6 thus creates its own specialized killing microhabitat. Tn5-mutagenesis shows that M6 killing requires c-di-GMP-dependent signalling, diverse fungicides and resistance to a Fusarium-derived antibiotic. Further molecular evidence suggests long-term host-endophyte-pathogen co-evolution. The end result of this remarkable symbiosis is reduced deoxynivalenol mycotoxin, potentially benefiting millions of subsistence farmers and livestock. Further results suggest that the anti-Fusarium activity of M6 may be transferable to maize and wheat. RHESt demonstrates the value of exploring ancient, orphan crop microbiomes

Polyclonal emergence of MDR Enterobacter cloacae complex isolates producing multiple extended spectrum beta-lactamases at Maputo Central Hospital, Mozambique

Enterobacter spp. are important nosocomial pathogens responsible of a wide variety of infections, mainly due to Extended Spectrum \u3b2-Lactamase (ESBL) producing isolates, constituting a global public health issue in terms of clinical treatment and infection control, especially in low-income countries, where last-line treatment is often unavailable and there is weak nosocomial surveillance. In this study, we conducted a phenotypic and molecular characterization of 8 clinical Enterobacter spp. strains, isolated from patient\u2019s blood in three hospitals in Mozambique. Isolates were identified by MALDI-TOF and antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing was performed by VITEK 2 system. Half of isolates were analyzed by PCR for \u3b2-lactamases genes, other isolates by Whole Genome Sequencing. We identified all isolates as Enterobacter cloacae complex (ECC), those from Maputo Central Hospital were polyclonal, multidrug resistant (5/8), and ESBL producers (50%), carrying blaCTX-M-15 and different assortment of blaSHV-12, blaTEM-1B and blaOXA-1, and AmpCs blaCMH-3, blaACT-7 and blaACT-9 genes. Resistance determinants linked to fluoroquinolone (aac(6')Ib-cr and qnrB1) and others antimicrobials were also found. Notably, one isolate showed phenotypically resistance to colistin, while another colistin susceptible isolate carried a silent mcr-9 gene. ECC nosocomial surveillance is urgently needed to contain and prevent the dissemination of ESBLs producing clones, and mcr-9 spread to other Enterobacteriaceae

Quality assurance for point-of-care testing in Mozambique’s National Health Service

No abstract available

Mozambique’s journey toward accreditation of the National Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory

Background: Internationally-accredited laboratories are recognised for their superior test reliability, operational performance, quality management and competence. In a bid to meet international quality standards, the Mozambique National Institute of Health enrolled the National Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory (NTRL) in a continuous quality improvement process towards ISO 15189 accreditation. Here, we describe the road map taken by the NTRL to achieve international accreditation. Methods: The NTRL adopted the Strengthening Laboratory Management Toward Accreditation (SLMTA) programme as a strategy to implement a quality management system. After SLMTA, the Mozambique National Institute of Health committed to accelerate the NTRL’s process toward accreditation. An action plan was designed to streamline the process. Quality indicators were defined to benchmark progress. Staff were trained to improve performance. Mentorship from an experienced assessor was provided. Fulfilment of accreditation standards was assessed by the Portuguese Accreditation Board. Results: Of the eight laboratories participating in SLMTA, the NTRL was the best-performing laboratory, achieving a 53.6% improvement over the SLMTA baseline conducted in February 2011 to the Stepwise Laboratory Quality Improvement Process Towards Accreditation (SLIPTA) assessment in June 2013. During the accreditation assessment in September 2014, 25 minor nonconformities were identified and addressed. In March 2015, the NTRL received Portuguese Accreditation Board recognition of technical competency for fluorescence smear microscopy, and solid and liquid culture. The NTRL is the first laboratory in Mozambique toachieve ISO 15189 accreditation. Conclusions: From our experience, accreditation was made possible by institutional commitment, strong laboratory leadership, staff motivation, adequate infrastructure and a comprehensive action plan