BUJUMBURA June 29th (ABP) – The organization CABI (Center of Agriculture and Biosciences International) presented, on Monday June 26, 2023 in Bujumbura, a report of activities carried out in 2022 in the Plantwise project intended to increase food security and to improve the livelihoods of rural people, by reducing harvest losses due to plant diseases and pests.
In his speech, the Plantwise coordinator in Burundi Dr Célestin Niyongere indicated that the project aims to build the capacities among stakeholders in the agricultural sector, in the identification and management of plant diseases and pests as well as problems related to food insufficiency. Losses due to diseases and pests are estimated at around 40%, he said.
Regarding the activities carried out, Dr. Niyongere explained that the project has worked in capacity building in the agricultural sector, aimed at raising awareness of the main diseases and pests that attack plants and the techniques for combating them. Also, this project helped in the verification of the state of the laboratories, which revealed that there is a lot to be done to have well-equipped laboratories capable of carrying out all the analyses, which can help have better production, to target international markets.
Thus, he pointed out, this project has strengthened synergies between the institutions of the phytosanitary system and those of extension to identify problems in a rapid manner, where particular emphasis has been placed on the reduction of risks associated with use of pesticides.
In turn, the director general of the Institute of Agronomic Sciences of Burundi (ISABU), Dr. Alfred Niyokwishimira indicated that since 2020, the political orientations in the agricultural sector require that every mouth should have food and that every pocket, money. However, according to him, to arrive at the production which allows this, there are actions which must be carried out. Among these is the control and prevention of plant diseases and pests. He also pointed out that if we do not manage to properly control these plant diseases and pests, we cannot hope to have quality products accessible to regional and international markets.