Critical Issues in Plant Health: 50 Years of Research in African Agriculture

"With concerns about climate change, loss of biodiversity and the need to feed an ever-growing human population, the book provides a valuable reference on the need to develop IPM giving greater emphasis to the environment. This is necessary with the future of farming changing with new technology, including precision agriculture, digitalisation, robotics and new genetic engineering technology."

International Pest Control – review by Emeritus Professor Graham Matthews, Imperial College London, UK

Plant health covers topics such as the safe handling and movement of germplasm and seed, as well as the range of biotic threats faced by crops and the ways they can be managed to optimise yields and ensure safety and quality in crop production. These threats include viral, bacterial and fungal diseases as well as the impact of insect pests and weeds. This collection summarises 50 years of research on plant health by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to improve the health of crops in Africa.

The first part of the book reviews general issues such as pest and disease surveillance and the range of viruses affecting key African crops. Part 2 summarises key research on improving the health of major crops such as cassava, maize, yams and cocoyams, bananas and plantains, legumes, vegetables and tree fruits. The final part of the book discusses ways of improving integrated pest management of insect pests, diseases and weeds in sub-Saharan Africa.

This unique book brings together some of the world’s leading experts on plant health in sub-Saharan Africa to review progress in dealing with the range of biotic threats faced by African farmers, and will be a standard reference on improving the management of pests and diseases in developing countries.