Antony Livoi pursued Masters of Science in Plant pathology at the University of Nairobi with great interest in the diseaes affecting Cassava crop. He is an alumni of Masinde Muliro University of science and technology where he pursued B.Sc. in Agriculture and biotechnology.He is a beneficiary of regional universities forum for capacity building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) and MasterCard foundation which granted him a scholarship to pursue his masters at the University of Nairobi.He is also a winner of filed attachment program award (FAPA) from
RUFORUM. An award that offers students grants to disseminate thesis outcomes to the community by developing business case or capacity building to close on the gaps found in recommendations during thesis
development. In this award he conducted knowledge dissemination and sharing under a project titled: Delivering healthy cassava planting materials for improved cassava productivity in Kenyan coast. A project he conducted under the supervision of Prof Agnes Mwang’ombe and he managed to reach 300 farmers along the Kenyan
coast who benefited in capacity building along cassava farming and received seedlings to increase cassava productivity as part of the efforts towards SDG 2 on food security and ending hunger. Antony has made several publications on cassava bacterial blightdiseaes and attended both regional and international scientific
conferences where he has done scientific present
Abstract
Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is one of the major crops among the roots and tubers consumed in Kenya and Africa at large. It is one of the strategic food security crops in rural livelihoods. The crop is faced by
biotic constraint that hinders its maximum productivity. This includes Cassava bacterial blight (CBB) caused by Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. cassavae and Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. manihotis, as one of
the major cassava diseases after cassava mosaic and cassava brown streak.This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of cassava bacterial blight in Kilifi and Taita Taveta counties, the existence of the
two bacterial pathovars causing CBB, characterizing them and using tissue culture technique to manage the diseaes.The two pathovars : Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. Cassavae (Xac) and Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. manihotis (Xam) were present in both counties with pv. manihotis (Xam) as the dominant pathovar. All the
varieties (Tajirika, Kibandameno, Kaleso, Shibe) grown in the region were found susceptible to CBB.
On characterization, Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. manihotis waswhite to creamish while Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. cassavae was yellow-pigmented. Both the pathogens were gram-negative, motile,
hydrolyzed gelatin, hydrolyzed starch, and were catalase positive.Incorporating antibiotics in tissue culture media significantly inhibited bacteria. The concentration rate of 20mg/l inhibited bacterial growth but did not allow for optimal plant growth hence not preferred for mass propagation of TC plants. Tetracycline and Streptomycin were found to be the best in suppressing CBB bacteria in tissue culture media at aconcentration of 15 mg/l and 20
Research Supervisors
Prof. Agnes Mwang’ombe
Dr. Dora Kilalo
