Following the detection of G. rostochiensis in Kenya in 2015, IITA scientists in partnership with their counterparts at icipe and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), among others, conducted a country-wide survey which found that G. rostochiensis was not only widespread throughout the country, including areas bordering Uganda and Tanzania, but also in very high concentrations. The team also established the presence of the pest in Uganda while researchers in Rwanda have also detected these nematodes in the country. IITA scientists and their partners are also engaged in a study to explore an innovative approach to effectively control these pests using “suicide hatch”. The hatching of nematode eggs from their protective cyst into the soils, where they then find the host plant roots, is triggered by chemicals that are released by the potato roots. The newly hatched juvenile nematodes then use other chemical signals from the roots to locate and infect the potato roots. Identifying these chemicals and synthetically producing them may offer possibilities for manipulating PCN to hatch in farmers’ fields before potatoes are planted, and in the absence of the host to feed on, the nematodes will starve to death—“suicide hatch”. IITA researchers are also working with partners, including the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS), James Hutton Institute in UK, and the International Potato Center (CIP), among others, to identify suitable potato cultivars with resistance against the nematodes and similar attributes to farmers’ preferred varieties. The team will increase its efforts to find an effective solution to this menace, which can spell doom for potato and the food and income of millions of people in the region. Source - https://kilimonews.co.ke