Disease Control in Cassava Farms

This booklet is one in a set of field guides prepared by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to increase the technical knowledge of extension agents and enhance the integration of plant protection and plant production practices in farmers’ efforts to grow a healthy crop of cassava. The booklet is based largely on the extension and farmer training experience of the regional project “Ecologically Sustainable Cassava Plant Protection” (ESCaPP), 1993–1997. ESCaPP was executed by IITA’s Plant Health Management Division (PHMD), in collaboration with national agricultural research and extension systems in Bénin, Cameroon, Ghana, and Nigeria, and funded by the Division of Global and Interregional Programmes of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

IITA is one of 16 nonprofit international agricultural research and training centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Their shared mission is the alleviation of hunger and poverty in tropical developing countries by generating appropriate plant production and protection technologies which benefit the poor and enhance agricultural production while preserving the natural resource base. At IITA, PHMD is dedicated to sustainable plant protection of primary food crops in Africa. The division’s research philosophy is to identify and correct the ecological imbalances in agricultural systems causing pest problems and to provide environmentally and economically appropriate options for integrated pest management (IPM).