Every year, Kenya loses Sh7.2 billion ($90 million) to a pesky insect that attacks maize stalks. The stem borer, which eats away 400,000 tonnes of maize - about 15 per cent of farmers' annual harvests - has been on scientists' minds for a long time. Now, a new project to develop insect resistant maize on the continent is likely to put farmers at rest. Thanks to the Insect Resistant Maize for Africa (IRMA) project, the National Museum of Kenya has acquired an arthropod reference collection for...
more »

Every year, Kenya loses Sh7.2 billion ($90 million) to a pesky insect that attacks maize stalks. The stem borer, which eats away 400,000 tonnes of maize - about 15 per cent of farmers' annual harvests - has been on scientists' minds for a long time. Now, a new project to develop insect resistant maize on the continent is likely to put farmers at rest. Thanks to the Insect Resistant Maize for Africa (IRMA) project, the National Museum of Kenya has acquired an arthropod reference collection for the nation's maize cropping systems (arthropods include insects, spiders, and crustaceans). The project has also fostered the systematic collection of farmer's local maize varieties (landraces) and related information for Kenya's National Gene Bank. Objectives of the Insect Resistant Maize for Africa Project (IRMA) * Combine conventional and novel technologies - including biotechnology - to develop maize varieties resistant to the major stem borer species * Increase maize production and food security by disseminating relevant, new technology to farmers * Field testing of conventionally bred stem borer resistant maize underway * Constructed open field quarantine site * Interviewed approximately 1000 farmers from five different ecological zones for baseline understanding of current insect management programs, and for understanding of relevance to farmers of new techniques and technologies * Construction of biosafety greenhouse, the first in East Africa * Continue training with Kenyan scientists on biosafety and greenhouse operations, in molecular analyses and transformation techniques * Convert non-target insect inventory to digitised format to aid in monitoring effects from use of Bt maize, should that maize be introduced in Kenyan farming systems. Partners in the Insect Resistant Maize for Africa Project (IRMA) » International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center » Kenya Agricultural Research Institute » Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture
« less