Strategies to avert entry of MLN
in Ethiopia
Berhanu Tadesse and Legess Wolde
Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research
Bako National Maize Research
ASARECA strategic plan for MLN disease for eastern and central Africa
Jacaranda hotel, Nairobi, Kenya,
21-23 august, 2013
Maize Lethal Necrosis disease
• Appeared in East Africa in 2011
• It is already in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania,
and recently in south Sudan and Rwanda
• No report in Ethiopia
• With the current trend, it can be disseminate
to other countries
• It is an potential danger in the region
– Food security
– Economy
– Employment
Maize in Ethiopia
Country
Area (Ha)
Burundi
Ethiopia
Kenya
Malawi
Rwanda
Uganda
Tanzania
Zambia
Zimbabwe
South Africa
119,478.00
2,013,044.00
2,159,322.00
1,650,000.00
253,698.00
1,094,000.00
4,118,117.00
1,074,658.00
960,000.00
3,250,000.00
Production (tons) Yield (t/ha
140,536.00
1.2
6,069,413.00
3.0
3,600,000.00
1.7
3,618,699.00
2.2
573,038.00
2.3
2,734,000.00
2.5
5,104,248.00
1.2
2,852,687.00
2.7
1,000,000.00
1.0
3.8
12,500,000.00
• It is the most important food crop
• 1st in production and second in areas
• More than 9 million house holds are growing maize
Arid dry land
Moist dry land
Potential areas
Semi-arid dry land
Water bodies
Sub-moist dry land
MoA, 2005
Possible entry points
• The cropping system
doesn’t favor
• The area is not well
known for maize
production
• Long dry season
Source: Google maps
Strategies
• Nationally no strategy developed
• But our institute has two
strategies:
1. Prevention
2. control
Prevention strategy
• Difficult: because insect transmitted
• Prevent introduction by planting materials
• % of seed transmission is very
– Grain importation: no data
– Seed import
• No seed introduction except breeder seed (seed co and
pioneer)
– Trial
• Working in close collaboration with CIMMYT
• CIMMYT is producing seed in MLND free areas
• CIMMYT sends trials seed to non-MLND countries
grown in CIMMYT-Zimbabwe
• We grow introduced materials only under
quarantine fields
Control strategy
• These are strategies to minimize its effect if the
disease happens
– Elite inbred lines, popular hybrids and OPVs sent to
CIMMYT for screening
• 84 elite lines including parents of popular hybrids
• 13 popular hybrids and OPVs
– Requested CIMMYT’s promising inbred lines and
pre-commercial hybrids
• We requested all hybrids, single crosses and parental lines
• We will make the crossing in the up-coming off-season
starting in October, 2013
• In the 2014 main season, we will go for release
– Single cross parent of one of our released three way
cross hybrid happened to be MT for MSV
Future plan
• We highly invest on research to develop
MLN resistant varieties in collaboration
with CIMMYT and other partners
• Conduct periodic survey in possible entry
points
• Establish quarantine system for imported
maize materials including trial seeds
• Training of researchers, seed producers
and other relevant stakeholder to create
awareness about the disease
Thank you!