Experiences from the USA National Clean Plant Network for Sweetpotato (in North Carolina and Louisiana) and sub-Saharan Africa
This webinar is part of a series hosted by the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers, and Bananas (RTB) on quality seed. This cluster seeks to improve access to quality seed and improved varieties as well as develop methods and techniques to diagnose, evaluate and improve seed systems for banana, cassava, potato, sweetpotato, and yam.
The five crops are vegetatively propagated – through roots, stems, vines, and suckers – and share similar challenges, including a low multiplication rate during the early stages of planting material production. The RTB program promotes knowledge sharing among scientists and practitioners, which has enabled the adaptation of techniques across crops, from yam to potato, for example. This webinar will focus on aeroponics and semi-autotropic hydroponics (SAH).
A key stage in sweetpotato seed production is the transfer of pathogen-tested tissue culture (TC) plantlets to in vivo for production in screenhouses. Screenhouse propagation of vine cuttings is the opportunity to bulk up quality seed for commercial sales. This requires optimization of the ratio between TC plantlets and screenhouse plants and having the appropriate implementing management practices to reduce unit cost of production.
This webinar is an initial discussion to exchange experiences among colleagues involved in the USA National Clean Plant Network for Sweetpotato and researchers and practitioners in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) who are involved in early generation seed production.
The event and discussion are open to the public and participation is expected from members of the sweetpotato speedbreed and seed communities of practice in SSA (e.g., NARIs, ARIs, development practitioners); and members of the RTB program for quality seed and improved varieties from the USA, Europe, Latin American, and Southeast Asia.
We see this webinar as an initial step to generate more in-depth exchange of information on screenhouse practices in the following areas:
- Media, containers, and nutrient mix used for screenhouse operations (including sandponics and semi-autotrophic hydroponics)
- Ratooning practice
- Irrigation practice
- Quality assurance practices (internal, external)
- Temperature and humidity management
- Other measures to reduce unit cost of production:
- Lighting systems
- Aeroponics
- Staking/trellising
- Output measures (e.g., multiplication rate per plant per unit time; unit cost of production, volume/revenue per season or cycle)
- Varietal turnover including number of varieties per season
Louisiana State University (LSU)
North Carolina State University (NCSU)
International Potato Center
(CIP)
International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
| TOPIC | PRESENTERS | TIME |
| Introduction to webinar | Margaret McEwan | 5 minutes |
| Overview of sweetpotato seed systems in Sub Saharan Africa | Kwame Ogero | 10 minutes |
| Sweetpotato commercial seed production: screenhouse practices | Experiences from:
· Louisiana State University USA · National Clean Plant Network – Sweetpotato |
15 minutes |
| Use of sandponics for cost effective sweetpotato seed production: current recommendations | Reuben Ssali
(International Potato Center -Kumasi,Ghana) |
15 minutes |
| Q&A | Rosemary Kihiu (moderator) | 15 minutes |
| Wrap-up and information on next session | Margaret McEwan | 10 minutes |
| TOPIC | PRESENTATOR | TIME |
| Introduction and recap of session 1 | Margaret McEwan | 10 minutes |
| Rapid propagation of virus-free planting materials from vine cuttings | Lava Kumar and Mercy Diebiru-Ojo
(IITA, Nigeria) |
15 minutes |
| Sweetpotato commercial seed production: screenhouse practices | Experiences from:
|
15 minutes |
| Use of sandponics for cost effective sweetpotato seed production: current recommendations | Reuben Ssali
(International Potato Center -Kumasi,Ghana) |
15 minutes |
| Q&A | Rosemary Kihiu (moderator) | 20 minutes |
| Wrap-up and reflection | Margaret McEwan | 10 minutes |
SESSION 1
SESSION 2
Biographies
Kwame Ogero
Regional Research Associate, International Potato Center, Mwanza, Tanzania
Kwame Ogero’s focus is on building a sustainable seed system for sweetpotato in Tanzania. This includes strengthening the capacities of various stakeholders on clean seed production including capacities to identify and manage sweetpotato viruses. His research also entails studying comparative epidemiology of seed degeneration to identify and understand scenarios whereby on-farm management, resistant varieties, and seed replacement management strategies would be most optimal. He is also interested in understanding the current distribution of sweetpotato viruses and how it will vary under different climatic scenarios.
Mercy Diebiru-Ojo
IITA
Cassava Seed Systems Assistant Specialist, IITA, GoSeed, Ibadan, Nigeria. Plant Breeder. Mercy has worked extensively on cassava from plant conservation via tissue culture and cryopreservation techniques, and SAH. She worked on genetics and physiology flowering of cassava as PhD research, which is one of the objectives of the NextGen cassava breeding project. She is involved in breeding activities of the Cassava breeding unit of IITA.
Lava Kumar
IITA
Lava Kumar is the Head of the Germplasm Health Unit, and Virology and Molecular Diagnostics Unit at IITA. His research programs are focused on (a) protecting germplasm health from pathogens and pests; (b) tackling virus diseases of IITA crops (cassava, yam, banana/plantain, cowpea, soybean, and maize), cacao, and vegetables; (c) developing convenient diagnostic tools for identification of pathogens (viruses, bacteria, fungi, and phytoplasma), pests and mycotoxins (aflatoxins); and (d) conducting training courses and workshops in plant disease diagnostics and control, and also higher degree training, leading graduate and postgraduate students to M.Sc. or Ph.D. degrees. He has been leading several R4D projects executed in collaboration with universities, NARS, and ARIs
Christopher Clark
Professor, Plant Pathology and Crop Physiology Department, LSU AgCenter
Dr. Christopher A. Clark is a Research Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology & Crop Physiology at the Louisiana State University (LSU), AgCenter with 42 years of experience in research on sweetpotato diseases and 20 years of experience in conducting virus testing and tissue culturing in support of the LSU AgCenter sweetpotato foundation seed program. He has been chair or co-chair of NCPN-SP since its inception, which involves providing leadership and coordination for network activities in producing clean plants in six clean plant centers in the U.S.
Arthur O Villordon
Professor, Sweetpotato Research Station, LSU AgCenter
Dr. Villordon has been working with the LA sweetpotato industry for 20 years and in the last 10 years has focused on examining the role of root architecture and storage root formation as the integrator of intrinsic (genetic) and external (management and environmental) cues that influence sweetpotato productivity. To date, collaborative work has provided evidence that abiotic (water and nitrogen availability) and biotic factors like virus presence, nematode infection directly influence lateral root development. Follow-up work has generated evidence of the link between phosphorus availability and storage root length and shape, leading to increased collaboration with growers for enhanced surveillance of soil phosphorus and monitoring of yields.
Christie Almeyda
Director – Micropropagation and Repository Unit (MPRU), North Carolina State University
Christie Almeyda is the Director of the Micropropagation and Repository Unit (MPRU), Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at North Carolina State University (NCSU). She holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Plant Pathology from Washington State University, Pullman, WA and the University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN; respectively. She obtained her B.S. in Biology from La Molina National Agrarian University (UNALM), Lima, Peru, her home country.
Christie is a molecular and applied plant virologist with ample experience on identification and characterization of viruses, viral disease management and application of diagnostic methods for virus detection. She is directing the MPRU since 2017 to accomplish its mission of providing certified clean planting stock for sweetpotatoes, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, bluberries and muscadine grapes through in vitro-tissue culture and virus indexing. She has been instrumental in the development of the MPRU virus testing/diagnostics capacity and the expansion of collaborations within NCSU and external partners. She is successfully leading the MPRU operations playing a key role in the NC sweetpotato industry and meeting expectations as the MPRU is a clean center for sweetpotatoes and berry crops as part of the National Clean Plant Network (NCPN).
Tara Smith
PhD Professor and Director.
Dr. Smith currently serves as the Research Coordinator of the LSU AgCenter Sweet Potato Research Station. She is an entomologist and conducts applied entomology research on sweetpotato as well as serving as a primary point of contact for the sweetpotato industry in Louisiana. Dr. Smith also serves as the Regional Director of the LSU AgCenter Central Region where she oversees all LSU AgCenter research and extension programs.
Jeffrey Cole Gregorie
Research Associate LSU AgCenter
Jeffrey Cole Gregorie is a Research Associate for the Sweet Potato Research Station at the Louisiana State University (LSU), AgCenter. He has been an associate for 10 years and specializes in greenhouse management, research plot implementation, drip irrigation, rotational crops, and pesticide management. He is also working towards a doctoral degree in Agronomy with emphasis on soils and Plant Physiology.
Reuben Ssali
Sweetpotato breeder
Reuben Ssali is a sweetpotato breeder with CIP, at the sweetpotato support platform for West Africa, in Ghana. His research focuses on developing and enhancing access of improved sweetpotato varieties. This involves germplasm improvement, evaluation and exploring germplasm utilization with end-users and linking breeding with the seed systems. He has worked extensively on optimizing the sandponics system for cost effective sweetpotato vine multiplication.