On 5th October 2016, the Cassava Diagnostics Project (CDP) unveiled a new laboratory and greenhouse facility at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. Scientists and researchers will use the new facilities to carry out vital diagnostic research viruses badly affecting cassava crops across Sub-Saharan Africa. The two most prolific of these are Cassava Mosaic Virus and Cassava Brown Steak Virus.
Speaking to a member of the Agshare.Today team at the CDP Annual Meeting, Kenya Team Leader for CDP Professor Elijah Ateka expressed the importance of the new facilities: “We are very privileged to have this facility because we now have a dedicated lab for plant virus diagnostics and we hope we will be able to support other researchers, students and farmers through indexing and production of disease-free planting materials.”
The laboratory was opened on 5th October 2016 by Dr Moses Rugut, Director General of the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI), Kenya.
