African honour for Shivamogga scientist for his role in saving maize crop from viral disease

A plant pathologist from Shivamogga district has won accolades for his contribution towards saving Africa’s staple crop, maize, from devastation from the deadly Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN) disease that threatened the food security of several African countries.

Suresh L.M., who is a native of Sagara and an alumnus of the University of Agricultural Sciences-Bengaluru, was honoured recently in Nairobi with the Africa Region Food Security Leadership award for playing a key role in fighting the viral disease to save Africa’s maize crop through his decade-long work.

The award was presented by Alice Murage, Acting Director General of Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation, and Prof. Theophyllus Mutui, Managing Director of Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service Organisation in Nairobi.

MLN, caused by the combination of two viruses, triggered a havoc in Eastern African countries since 2011 due to its potential to devastate the crop within three weeks.

Food security threat

What began as a deep farm crisis soon turned out to be a threat to food security as well as seed trade as the disease spread fast. The countries then managed to put in a disease management system, with the coming together of several institutions, policy makers and scientists.

“I shifted to Africa in 2015 with the specific intention of working on this disease. I joined the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre, which is an international agricultural research organization, that was working to check the spread of this disease,” Mr. Suresh told The Hindu.

“The disease was so lethal in terms of impact that Kenya alone had suffered a loss of $ 1.85 million due to the crop devastation. The tropical weather had made it convenient for the disease to survive and spread fast. While it had spread to several East African countries, there was a dire need to prevent it from spreading to other African countries,” he pointed out.

None of the commercial maize varieties in Africa had genetic resistance to this disease. Hence there was a dire need to develop disease-resistant varieties.

Systems in place

“As the disease was spreading through seeds, we had to test the seeds and also ensure that they were disease free. There was a need to put in a strong quarantine ensure that the disease does not spread to other African countries through seeds. Above all, there was a need for a strong surveillance system. The good thing is that we were able to achieve this with the involvement of scientists, policy makers, farmers and others. A massive work was taken up as 2.80 lakh germ plasms of maize were tested using latest technologies and 20 disease-resistant hybrid varieties were developed,” explained the 55-year-old scientist.

He believes that the early detection of disease and smart surveillance system are a model for any country in the world.