Last week, we posted an alert on our social media platforms "Does anyone out there know the solution to the Maize Lethal Necrotic Disease affecting maize crops in Laikipa- Kenya? pic.twitter.com/GXdtBrDJMT

Since then we have learnt that, CIMMYT has been working in close collaboration with the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), private sector partners and virology experts from the USA to combat the disease through host-controlled resistance. A CIMMYT-KARI MLN Screening Facility was established at Naivasha in September 2013, and a large array of maize germplasm is presently being evaluated against the disease under artificial inoculation. Subsequent to the development of effective protocols, CIMMYT and KARI have been conducting MLN screening trials in Kenya since 2012, to identify promising inbred lines and pre-commercial maize hybrids with resistance to MLN.

For more information visit the CIMMY website www.cimmyt.org/en/what-we-do/maize-research/item/update-cimmyt-maize-inbred-lines-and-pre-commercial-hybrids-with-potential-resistance-to-maize-lethal-necrosis-mln