Plant virology in Africa [3]

Plant virology in Africa Dr Luther Bos of the Research Institute for Plant Protection, Wageningen, The Netherlands sent some critical remarks on the same article 'Why are you concentrating on sub-Saharan Africa? Is it to include South Africa, hoping that either it will now advance so rapidly that it could support other parts of Africa, or that with the recent political changes there might be moral and financial support from elsewhere to aid it in aiding nearby countries? Would not it be more realistic to just talk about Tropical Africa? If not, then why not include the Moslem Northern part of the continent? Thanks to the ICARDA7 virology programme including continuing systematic surveys in the region (with various unexpected results), we now know a lot more about the viruses of the legume crops from Morocco to Iran and Turkey to Yemen, Sudan and Ethiopia. You are ignoring the work that is being done in the tropical virology laboratory at Agropolis in Montpellier, France, by Thouvenel et al. which is a continuation of the work started at the Adiopodoume research centre in Côte d'Ivoire. () As for your suggestion of a local 'Centre of Excellence', good work on plant virology requires continuity for the building up of expertise and reliable facilities. It requires size and internal division of labour for justifying the purchase of expensive equipment, and for critical mass. Such a Centre also requires independence from national governments to keep local politics out and ensure continuity and independence from political winds that change direction each time a government falls. You justly stressed that virology is characterised by particular needs. Administrators are mostly insufficiently aware how unique viruses are and how they pose special problems for research and control. You are also right in saying suitable overseas training courses for tropical staff are increasingly falling short because of lack of tropical experience in advanced countries.' 1 ACMV: African Cassava Mosaic Virus 2 BSV: Cassava Brown Streak Virus 3 NARS: National Agricultural Research Systems 4 RYMV: Rice Yellow Mottle Virus 5 CGIAR: Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research 6 NGO: Non-governmental organisation(s) 7 ICARDA: International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas