New plant viruses constitute major threats to food security – Virologist

A Plant Virologist, Prof. Lava Kumar said on Tuesday that some viruses such as cassava mosaic, maize streak and cassava brown streak have been established to constitute major threats to food security in Sub-Saharan Africa. Kumar, the Head, Germplasm Health Unit and Virologist, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, said this at the national […]

A Plant Virologist, Prof. Lava Kumar said on Tuesday that some viruses such as cassava mosaic, maize streak and cassava brown streak have been established to constitute major threats to food security in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Kumar, the Head, Germplasm Health Unit and Virologist, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, said this at the national conference of the Nigerian Society for Plant Virology, held at IITA.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the maiden conference has its theme as ‘Plant Virology for Food Security’.

Kumar listed other viruses that could be dangerous as cocoa swollen shoot, banana bunchy top and maize lethal necrosis.

He explained that the viruses have endemic status, re-emerging and invasive depending on the geographic occurrence and risk of invasion.

He added that endemic viruses infecting indigenous crops such as yam mosaic on white yam are persistent factors for low yields.

The virologist emphasized that genetic resistance that rescued cassava from mosaic and maize from streak had proven to be the most practicable and effective option to control viruses in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). (NAN)