Germplasm A and B Genomic Composition Differentially Affects Their Susceptibility to Banana Bunchy Top Virus and Its Aphid Vector, .

Banana bunchy top disease (BBTD), caused by the banana bunchy top virus (BBTV, genus ), is the most destructive viral disease of banana and plantain ( spp.). The virus is transmitted persistently by the banana aphid, Coquerel (Hemiptera: Aphididae).

Increasing cassava root yield on farmers' fields in Nigeria through appropriate weed management.

Weed competition is the major biological stress affecting cassava production in smallholder farms in West and Central Africa, where yields are low compared with those in Asia and Latin America. Options for improved weed management are crucial in increasing productivity. Selected pre- and post-emergence herbicides, integrated with appropriate tillage and plant spacing, were tested in 96 sites in four locations in Nigeria, 24 in 2016 and 72 in 2017.

Metabolites Identified during Varied Doses of Species in Grains, and Their Correlation with Aflatoxin Levels.

Aflatoxin contamination is associated with the development of aflatoxigenic fungi such as and on food grains. This study was aimed at investigating metabolites produced during fungal development on maize and their correlation with aflatoxin levels. Maize cobs were harvested at R3 (milk), R4 (dough), and R5 (dent) stages of maturity.

Effectiveness of spinosad bait sprays (GF-120) in controlling mango-infesting fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Benin.

Effectiveness of GF-120 (Dow Chemical) Fruit Fly Bait containing the insecticide spinosad in controlling mango-infesting fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) was assessed by comparing treated orchards with untreated orchards. Twelve mango, Mangifera indica L., plantations located in six villages (two similar orchards per village: one orchard treated and orchard untreated) scattered in the Borgou department (northern Benin) were monitored weekly with fly traps, and the fruit was sampled twice for larval infestation at the beginning and in the middle of May in both 2006 and 2007.

Scaling up tests on virulence of the cassava green mite fungal pathogen Neozygites tanajoae (Entomophthorales: Neozygitaceae) under controlled conditions: first observations at the population level.

Virulence of entomopathogens is often measured at the individual level using a single host individual or a group of host individuals. To what extent these virulence assessments reflect the impact of an entomopathogen on their host in the field remains largely untested, however. A methodology was developed to induce epizootics of the cassava green mite fungal pathogen Neozygites tanajoae under controlled conditions to evaluate population-level virulence of two (one Beninese and one Brazilian) isolates of the entomopathogen--which had shown similar individual-level virulence but different field impacts.