Survey and management of potato pests in Uganda

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is an important food and income generating crop for its growers. The crop is also nutritionally rich in carbohydrates, vitamins (C and B), proteins, minerals (potassium) among other nutritional components. In Uganda, potato has been recognized as a crop with potential for nutrition security and income generation. Despite these benefits, average potato yield (4.8 t/ha) in Uganda is still comparatively lower than attainable global average yield (30 to 40 t/ha), owing to several biotic and abiotic production constraints. A study was conducted to establish the status of potato pests and diseases in north eastern and south western Uganda to include districts such as Mbale, Namisindwa, Kween, Kapchorwa and Kabale, Rubanda, Kisoro, respectively. The study was aimed at assessing the incidence and prevalence of key pests and diseases affecting potato in Uganda, with special emphasis on potato cyst nematode. Several pests and diseases including leaf miner flies, aphids, potato tuber moths, whiteflies, viruses, several nematode species, bacterial wilt (Ralstonia solanacaerum), and Fusarium spp. were observed to be affecting potato. Through the prospections conducted in this survey, the potato cyst nematode (Globodera rostochiensis) was identified in north eastern and south western areas of Uganda. Male farmers were more engaged in decision-making activities for potato production than their female counterparts in Eastern Uganda. An inclusive and multi institutional team was tasked to conduct this potato disease survey; this exercise was led by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the International Fertilizer Development Centre (IFDC-GIZ), with the special cooperation of the International Potato Centre (CIP), and the active engagement of the BugiZARDI-NARO and the District Production Office of the District Local Governments and Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries-Department of National Crop Certification Services

Internationalizationof Read-Across as a Validated New Approach Method (NAM) for Regulatory Toxicology

Read-across (RAx) translates available information from well-characterized chemicals tothe substance for which there is a toxicological data gap. The OECD is working on case studies to probe general applicability of RAx, and several regulations (e.g. EU-REACH) already allow this procedure to be used to waive new in vivotests. The decision to prepare a review on the state of the art of RAx as a tool for risk assessment for regulatory purposes was taken during a workshop with international experts in Ranco, Italy in July 2018. Three major issues were identified that need optimisation to allowa higher regulatory acceptance rate of the RAx procedure: (i) the definition of similarity of source and target, (ii) the translation of biological/toxicological activity of source to target, in the RAx procedure, and (iii) how to deal with issues of ADMEthat may differ between source and target. The use of new approach methodologies (NAM) was discussed as one of the most important innovations to improve the acceptability of RAx. At present, NAM data may be used to confirm chemical and toxicological similarity. In the future, the use of NAM may be broadened to fully characterize the hazard and toxicokinetic properties of RAx compounds. Concerning available guidance, documents on Good Read-Across Practice (GRAP) and on best practices to perform and evaluatethe RAx process were identified. Here, in particular the RAx guidance, being worked out by the European Commission’s H2020 project EU-ToxRisk, together with many external partners with regulatory experience, is given

The EU-ToxRisk method documentation, data processing and chemical testing pipeline for the regulatory use of new approach methods

Hazard assessment, based on new approach methods (NAM), requires the use of batteries of assays, where individual tests may be contributed by different laboratories. A unified strategy for such collaborative testing is presented. It details all procedures required to allow test information to be usable for integrated hazard assessment, strategic project decisions and/or for regulatory purposes. The EU-ToxRisk project developed a strategy to provide regulatorily valid data, and exemplified this using a panel of > 20 assays (with > 50 individual endpoints), each exposed to 19 well-known test compounds (e.g. rotenone, colchicine, mercury, paracetamol, rifampicine, paraquat, taxol). Examples of strategy implementation are provided for all aspects required to ensure data validity: (i) documentation of test methods in a publicly accessible database; (ii) deposition of standard operating procedures (SOP) at the European Union DB-ALM repository; (iii) test readiness scoring accoding to defined criteria; (iv) disclosure of the pipeline for data processing; (v) link of uncertainty measures and metadata to the data; (vi) definition of test chemicals, their handling and their behavior in test media; (vii) specification of the test purpose and overall evaluation plans. Moreover, data generation was exemplified by providing results from 25 reporter assays. A complete evaluation of the entire test battery will be described elsewhere. A major learning from the retrospective analysis of this large testing project was the need for thorough definitions of the above strategy aspects, ideally in form of a study pre-registration, to allow adequate interpretation of the data and to ensure overall scientific/toxicological validity.Toxicolog

Survey and management of potato pests in Uganda (CC3.1.2.2 - output no. 12557)

A study was conducted to establish the status of potato pests and diseases in north eastern and south western Uganda to include districts such as Mbale, Namisindwa, Kween, Kapchorwa and Kabale, Rubanda, Kisoro, respectively. The study was aimed at assessing the incidence and prevalence of key pests and diseases affecting potato in Uganda, with special emphasis on potato cyst nematode. Several pests and diseases including leaf miner flies, aphids, potato tuber moths, whiteflies, viruses, several nematode species, bacterial wilt (Ralstonia solanacaerum), and Fusarium spp. were observed to be affecting potato. Through the prospections conducted in this survey, the potato cyst nematode (Globodera rostochiensis) was identified in north eastern and south western areas of Uganda. Male farmers were more engaged in decision-making activities for potato production than their female counterparts in Eastern Uganda. An inclusive and multi institutional team was tasked to conduct this potato disease survey; this exercise was led by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the International Fertilizer Development Centre (IFDC-GIZ), with the special cooperation of the International Potato Centre (CIP), and the active engagement of the BugiZARDI-NARO and the District Production Office of the District Local Governments and Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries-Department of National Crop Certification Services

Intensity and distribution of Meloidogyne Spp. in cowpea growing areas of Mozambique

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) is an important food crop in Mozambique. The crop is cultivated almost exclusively by smallholder farmers in warm marginal environments of the country. Rootknot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) are among the major constraints limiting cowpea yield in the country. Understanding rootknot nematode prevalence, distribution and damage intensity in major cowpea growing areas is crucial in making control decisions. A study was conducted to identify rootknot nematode species, determine prevalence, distribution and damage intensity (incidence and severity) in Mozambique. The study covered 8 districts belonging to 3 provinces namely: Gaza, Inhambane, and Nampula provinces. Out of the 72 cowpea fields surveyed, 56.9% were infested with rootknot nematodes. Inhambane province registered the highest root knot nematode prevalence at 74%. Meloidogyne incognita and M. javanica were the most frequent root knot nematode species encountered. M. enterolobii was another species observed to be associated with cowpea rootknot in this study. The highest frequency of M. incognita and M. javanica was observed in cowpea fields from Inhambane and Gaza provinces, respectively. Provinces differed significantly in terms of the intensity of rootknot nematode damage in which Inhambane province recorded the highest rootknot incidence and galling severity at 39.8% and 1.9, respectively. Rootknot nematode damage intensity differed significantly across districts in which Homoine district registered the highest rootknot nematode incidence and galling severity at 55.8% and 2.1, respectively