TITLE:
Incidence, Severity and Gravity of Cassava Mosaic Disease in Savannah Agro-Ecological Region of DR-Congo: Analysis of Agro-Environmental Factors
AUTHORS:
Marcel Muengula-Manyi, Kabwe K. Nkongolo, Claude Bragard, Patrick Tshilenge-Djim, Stephan Winter, Adrien Kalonji-Mbuyi
KEYWORDS:
Cassava Mosaic Disease; Farmers’ Fields; Agro-Environmental Factors; Gandajika; DR-Congo
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.3 No.4,
April
25,
2012
ABSTRACT: African Cassava mosaic disease (ACMD) is the most severe and widespread disease caused by viruses limiting production of the crop in sub-Saharan Africa. The objective of the present study was to evaluate CMD incidence, severity, and gravity under different agro-environmental conditions. A total of 222 fields were surveyed in 23 different locations. All the farmers grow only local cassava varieties without applications of fertilizers. Overall, mean CMD incidences for all sites surveyed were 58.2% and 51.7%, in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Disease severity ranged from 2.4 to 3.1 on a scale of 1 to 5. Mean disease gravity varied from 29.7% to 62%, in 2010, and 2009, respectively. Detailed analysis of agronomic and environmental revealed no significant association between cassava stand locations, age, land topography and the development of CMD. Likewise intercropping practices and field topping did not affect the development of CMD in all the fields surveyed. There were significant differences in the number of white flies (Bemisia tabaci) per plant in 2009 and 2010, but no significant correlations between the number of B. tabaci per plant and CMD incidence, severity, and gravity was found. In most fields, CMD appears to originate mostly from unhealthy cassava cuttings used for planting.