ANNEX 1 – APPLICATION FORM
APPLICATION FOR SUPPORT TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MULTI-STAKEHOLDER
PARTNERSHIP THAT PROMOTES DEMAND-DRIVEN AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION
Title of the proposed partnership: Control of Angular leaf spot disease of Citrus in Ghana
1.
Briefly describe the innovation challenge or opportunity that your partnership wants to
address: Citrus crop is produced in the Central, Eastern, and Ashanti regions and is
expanding to the Western and Brong-Ahafo regions of Ghana. The crop is also becoming an
important non traditional commodity in the country. In 2007 some large and small growers
in the Central Region reported a high incidence of a new fruit and leaf spot disease that is
threatening the industry. Plant pathologist from the Plant protection and Regulatory Services
Directorate of MoFA (PPRSD) and the Department of Crop Science, University of Ghana
then undertook a survey on the incidence, severity and etiology of the disease in the Region
in May, 2010. Preliminary results of the survey (PPRSD, 2010) indicated that the disease
may be Angular leaf spot of citrus –caused by Pseudocercospora angolensis an A1
quarantine pest for Europe and the Mediterranean region (EPPO, 2009). Yield losses of 5060 % was observed in some districts and that if the disease is not controlled growers may
cease production where the disease is endemic with dire consequences for the many people
involved in its production and marketing and the export trade in the crop.
The aim of this project is, therefore to undertake a detailed nationwide survey on the
incidence, severity and etiology of the disease in all the citrus growing regions. Disease
management strategies (evaluation of some fungicides on the Ghanaian market to select
some for control of the disease on already established fields and the study of natural
incidence and severity of disease on established fields to select moderately resistant varieties
to be considered for new plantations and augmented with the selected fungicides) will be
developed with the involvement of farmers and training (farmer field school) will be
organized for farmers and extension officers in the affected districts. Quarantine officers at
the national borders will also be trained on diagnostic procedures for the identification of the
disease.
2.
Composition of the proposed partnership:, Citrus producers association of Ghana (Citrus
producers), Dept. of Crop Science, University of Ghana (research actor), Instituto Valencia
no de Investigaciones Agrarian Spain (Research actor), and Plant Protection and Regulatory
Services Directorate (PPRSD) of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ghana (Innovationfacilitators)
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ANNEX 1 – APPLICATION FORM
3.
Partner 1
(Applicant)
Name of organisation: Citrus producers association of Ghana
Country of registration: Ghana
Type of actor1: (Citrus producers – Actors with direct stake in the results)
Relevant expertise: Small scale and commercial producers of citrus
Experience in innovation partnerships2: over 50 years of collaboration with the
Extension Services Directorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA)
and citrus researchers.
Legal status3: Registered Association in Ghana
Role and responsibilities4: Producers of citrus fruits
Stake in the innovation challenge/opportunity: To improve earnings
Expected input and complementarity5: provide farm for survey on incidence
and severity of disease and research on disease control strategy; deploy
innovation on farm. Farmers will be involved at every stage of the experimental
development of control methods. Cost and benefits analysis for the control
methods will be done with farmers to obtain control methods which will
acceptable to the farmers.
Partner 2
Name of organisation: Dept. of Crop Science, University of Ghana
Country of registration: Ghana
Type of actor: (research actor)
Relevant expertise: 62 years of research on citrus and other crops
Experience in innovation partnerships: involved in numerous innovative works
with farmers, MOFA and international organizations
Legal status: Public University established by parliamentary act
Role and responsibilities: Teaching and research
Stake in the innovation challenge/opportunity: fulfil mandate - to train
personnel to meet the nation’s high level professional manpower in promoting
1
Indicate if the partner is e.g. a Producer organisation, Farmer federation, Private sector organisation, Nongovernmental organisation, Research organisation, University, …
2
Register relevant experience of the partner. For the leader of the partnership and the research leader, also
indicate experience in respectively leading innovation partnerships and leading research projects as part of an
innovation process.
3
For the leader of the partnership and the research leader, also indicate if the partner has managed donor
grants in the past.
4
Indicate if the partner will be e.g. the leader of the innovation partnership, leader of the envisaged research,
play another role …
5
Indicate what the partner will contribute to the innovation process and how this complements inputs of other
partners.
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ANNEX 1 – APPLICATION FORM
sustainable agricultural development based on environmentally sound
management of natural resources of the agricultural sector thereby contributing
to food security and poverty eradication through quality instruction, research,
partnership and capacity building and policy support to various agricultural and
related ministries organisations and institutions.
Expected input and complementarity: Identify disease pathogen and develop
methods for control of disease and develop cost benefit analysis for control
measures with the involvement of farmers at every stage of the work.
Partner 3
Name of organisation: Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate
(PPRSD), Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ghana.
Country of registration: Ghana
Type of actor: non research actor and innovation-facilitators
Relevant expertise: over 50 years of work with farmers, agricultural extension
agents and researchers in the area of plant protection
Experience in innovation partnerships: Over 50 years of work collaborative
work with farmers, researchers and international organizations in the
management of pests and diseases, e.g. cassava bacteria blight, maize rust
cassava and mango mealy bugs, green cassava mites, etc
Legal status: Ghana government Ministry established by parliamentary act.
Role and responsibilities: National plant protection organization
Stake in the innovation challenge/opportunity: To have a positive impact on
the income earning potential of citrus farmers and agricultural productivity in
the nation
Partner 4
Expected input and complementarity: Ensure Generation of nationwide data
on extent and severity of disease, identify disease hot spots for experiments
and extend technology generated for disease control to farmers, extension
agents and quarantine officers nationwide. Trained farmers on pesticide
application technology for judicious use of pesticides to avoid development of
resistance by pathogens, contamination of the environment and adverse effect on
the health of farm workers.
Name of organisation: Instituto Valencia no de Investigaciones Agrarian Spain
Country of registration: Spain
Type of actor: (research actor)
Relevant expertise: 80 years of research on citrus
Experience in innovation partnerships: involved in numerous innovative works
with farmers, and international organizations
Legal status: Public research centre established by parliamentary act
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ANNEX 1 – APPLICATION FORM
Role and responsibilities: research
Stake in the innovation challenge/opportunity: research, partnership and
capacity building and policy support to various agricultural and related
ministries organisations and institutions.
Expected input and complementarity: Identify strains of disease pathogen by
use of advanced techniques and facilitate the development of methods for
control of disease
[Please add rows for additional partners as needed.]
4. Where will the innovation process and the supporting research activities take place? 6
In citrus farms, plant pathology laboratory and the biotechnology centre of the
University of Ghana
5. Briefly describe the role that beneficiaries and end-users have played in the definition
of the joint challenge or opportunity that your partnership wants to address: The citrus
farmers associate provided farms and answered questionnaires for preliminary survey on
incidence and severity of the disease. They also provided fruits for identification of the
causal organism and get actively involved in the experimental development of control
methods and the development of cost benefit analysis for the control.
6. Does the envisaged innovation process add value to existing initiatives of the partners
or other actors? If yes, please explain: The disease is new in Ghana and no work has
been done on it.
7. What results are expected from the innovation process? Who are the beneficiaries or
end-users? How will they benefit from the results?
Results
Beneficiaries/end-users
Benefits / outcomes
Method for control of angular 1. Citrus farmers, retailers
Increased citrus production
leaf spot disease of citrus
transporters, processors and through reduction of angular
developed and capacity for
leaf spot disease.
exporters
the disease control built
among farmers and extension
agents.
6
This could be at more than one location. E.g. for innovation in a value chain, activities could take place at the
location of production, processing, shipping, retailing, etc. Related research activities could be partly in these
same locations, partly in laboratories elsewhere in Africa or in Europe.
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ANNEX 1 – APPLICATION FORM
2. Agricultural extension
agents.
Farmers and extension agent
trained to identify and
manage the disease.
Training
manual
for
identification
and
management of the disease
developed.
3. Quarantine officers
Quarantine officers trained
to identify the disease
[Please add rows for additional beneficiaries or end-users as needed.]
8. Please indicate briefly what the research activity is expected to contribute to the
achievement of these results:
A. Initial survey to confirm the etiology, incidence and severity of the disease in the
Ashanti, Central, Eastern, and Western regions of Ghana
Four districts will be selected at random in each of the four regions and ten farms will be
selected per district to determine the incidence and severity of the disease. On each farm,
thirty plants will be randomly examined and disease severity scores recorded on a scale of 15. Disease incidence will be obtained by counting of diseased and healthy plants. The data
will be analysed using ANOVA and LSD (5%) to separate means. This baseline information
will be needed to determine the impact of the project on the selected communities and to
select disease hotspots for siting experiments.
Determination of farmers’ perception and experiences concerning angular leaf spot disease
of citrus.
Method: Focus group discussion and survey (400 farmers will be interviewed in the two
districts in each region; one focus group discussion will be held in each district)
Output: Farmers knowledge, perceptions and experiences concerning prevalence, spread,
control, and economic importance of the disease will be recorded.
B. Determination of the correct identity of the causal organism in the country in
comparison to other in other parts of the world
Ten samples of diseased fruit and leaves will be selected from ten farms in each of the
districts for morphological, serological and DNA analysis in the laboratory at the Department
of Crop Science, Legon. This will be compared to other cited in literature in other parts of the
country.
C. Fungicidal control of leaf spot disease
Three sprays of mancozeb, chlorothalonil, copper hydroxide, mancozed +chlorothalonil and
mancozeb + copper hydroxide will be applied at 15 day interval to sweet orange cultivar, Late
Valencia. Four replications, each with ten trees will be maintained for all treatments arranged
in randomized complete block design (RCBD). Results will be analysed using ANOVA and
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ANNEX 1 – APPLICATION FORM
LSD (5%). The best performing fungicides and their spray frequencies will be selected.
Evaluation of sweet orange cultivars for resistance to leaf spot disease
Five popular sweet orange cultivars will be evaluated for their reaction to P. angolensis under
prevailing natural conditions. Trees of same age and relatively same canopy size (2.3-m in
diameter and 3-m height) of each cultivar will be marked for the studies. Ten trees of each
cultivar served as replications of the cultivar. Assessment of natural incidence and severity of
the disease on leaves was carried out 7-times at 15-days interval. AUPDC, disease severity
index and premature leaf defoliation will also be derived. Cultivars with scores of 1-2 were
rated resistant; 3 moderately resistant; 4 moderately susceptible and with 5 score susceptible,
respectively. Data will be subjected to ANOVA and LSD (5%).
D. Participatory trails on integrated pest management (IPM) for control of the disease
Two farms with high incidence and severity of the disease (from the initial survey) will be
selected in each region for participatory trials with farmers and extension agents on the use of
IPM in the following areas to manage the disease. (a) cultural practices
- Collection and destruction by burying and/or burning of all fallen fruit and leaves in
affected orchards.
- Planting of windbreaks around the citrus orchards to minimize the impact of wind, which is
the primary dispersal agent for spores.
- Discouraging inter-planting in affected orchards composed of mature producing trees,
fostering a microclimate of relatively cool temperatures and high relative humidity (RH) thus
preventing disease development and
- Judicious pruning of shoots, particularly those that have died back, to allow light penetration
into and free aeration within the tree canopy, thus making the environment less conducive to
disease development among others.
(b) Use of environmentally safe pesticides to protect already established farms.
(c) Identification and selection of citrus genotypes with high yield and resistance to the
disease to be considered for new plantations.
When does your partnership expect to achieve these results? In 3 years
9.
10. What are main risks/threats to the sustainability of your partnership?
The research approach in this project involves technologies which are well known, widely
acceptable and safe and already practiced in some citrus growing areas in the world. The
partners are already involved in collaborative researches on management of some citrus
diseases. Risk to sustainability of partnership is therefore rated low.
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ANNEX 1 – APPLICATION FORM
11. What funding opportunity is your partnership targeting for the research proposal that
you expect to formulate?
Donor: no donor yet
Title and identification number of the call or funding window: Non
Web page of the funding window: Non
Deadlines for application: Non
12. Information on potential candidates that your partnership trusts as neutral innovationfacilitator7
Candidate 1
Candidate 2
Candidate 3
Name
Mr. J.V. Suglo
Organisation
PPRSD of MOFA,
Ghana
Position
Director
Experience as
Led numerous
innovation-facilitator national projects in
plant protection
Acceptability to all
Acceptable top all
partners
the partners
Availability
Available for the 3
years of the project
13. Please indicate the support your partnership needs from PAEPARD in terms of
facilitation of meetings and capacity strengthening:
14. Contact details of the applicant
Name of contact person: Mr. Paa kwesi Entsie
Position in the organisation: Deputy Director (PPRSD of MOFA)
Telephone:+233208128559
Email: p4paakent2yahoo.com
Website:
Please return your application form as a Word file attached to an email to the secretariat
of the PAEPARD selection committee (jmugabe@fara-africa.org or fstepman@fara7
Please note that PAEPARD will only support the training and coaching of one innovation-facilitator per
partnership, not their time and other costs of their services to your partnership. You may consider staff of one
of the partner organisations in order to reduce costs and ensure availability. But you need to weigh this against
neutrality and acceptability.
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ANNEX 1 – APPLICATION FORM
africa.org), before 15 July 2011, mentioning “PAEPARD Partnership Application” in the
subject line. The secretariat will acknowledge receipt immediately.
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