News on Potato Cyst Nematodes from Kenya

The James Hutton Institute introduced two PCN-resistant potato varieties, Malaika and Glen, in Kenya. Developed with international partners, they boost yields, support food security, and meet local farmers’ needs for fast-cooking, low-dormancy potatoes.

IITA, FAO & partners equip 12 African nations to detect/manage Potato Cyst Nematodes, a pest slashing yields & threatening trade, via training, diagnostics, awareness & regional cooperation to protect farmers’ livelihoods & potato production.

With potato production in East Africa under increasing threat from the invasive and highly destructive potato cyst nematode (PCN) pest, an organic technology developed from banana plant waste material may well be the ultimate rescue.

Demand for potatoes in eastern Africa has been growing steadily. This growth is driven in part by rising demand from the fast food industry and for processing into high value products such as crisps, chips and starch. Despite an increase of 60% in the area of cultivated land, production has been declining in Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda.

A survey done in 20 counties in Kenya released earlier this month, shows that Potato Cyst Nematode infestation has reached 80 to 100 per cent in some of the potato growing areas.