Poster: Diseases of Plants: Disease Detection & Diagnosis
481-P
Virus diseases: a major threat to high value vegetable crops in Bangladesh and Nepal
A. FAYAD (1), A. Fayad (1), R. Naidu (2) (1) Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, U.S.A.; (2) Washington State University, U.S.A.
The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Integrated Pest Management (IPM IL), a USAID-funded program managed by Virginia Tech, has been working on identifying major threats to vegetable production in Bangladesh and Nepal. Surveys have been conducted in major production areas including those of smallholder farmers. Results show a trend of emerging and re-emerging virus disease in cucurbits including cucumber, squash, pumpkin and other gourds, tomato, pepper, potato, and okra. Research is focused on identifying sources of virus, with a special emphasis on insect vector and seed transmission pathways. The IPM IL is working with farmers, researchers, and local and international NGOs in Bangladesh and Nepal to address management of these virus diseases, and developing ecologically-based and environmentally friendly IPM strategies that reduce the reliance on synthetic pesticides and improve yield while at the same time reducing damage to the environment and improving nutrition and health. IPM packages have been developed and are being disseminated through farmer participatory approaches including IPM demonstration plots and farmer groups.