Rice pathology workshop held for East and Southern Africa

The Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) partnered with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) to organize the 5-day (6-10 May 2013) Rice Pathology Workshop that attracted 23 participants from the 7 countries of the East and Southern African (ESA) region—Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Mozambique, Kenya, Rwanda, and Burundi.

The workshop was opened at Burundi University in the Burundian capital of Bujumbura by Freedom King, dean of the university's Faculty of Agricultural Sciences.

The participants, who were welcomed by Joseph Bigirimana, plant pathologist and IRRI coordinator for East and Southern Africa, visited disease hotspots, collect diseased samples, and isolated and purified rice pathogens for molecular and pathogenic characterization.

The workshop was also an opportunity for pathologists from both IRRI and AfricaRice to report and discuss with one another their respective plant pathology activities in ESA. Their efforts support the development of rice material with useful resistance traits for use in the region.

Plant pathology specialists Drissa Silue (AfricaRice) and Casiana Vera Cruz, Ricardo Oliva, and Bo Zhou (IRRI) were the resource persons for the workshop.



Learn more about IRRI (www.irri.org) or follow us on the social media and networks (all links down the right column).