On the invitation of Bill & Melinda Gates foundation, Professor Wang Xiaowei from the Institute of Insect Science attended the annual meeting of Cassava Whitefly Project in Spain from November 26th to December 1th,2017.
Cassava is the third most important staple food in the tropics. Since the 1990s, an unprecedented increase in the infestation of the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, has caused significant damage to cassava. Production losses in some African countries have been estimated as high as 47% and the areas affected are continuing to expand, resulting in annual losses of more than US$1.25 billion.
The African Cassava Whitefly Project seeks to understand the cause of super-abundant cassava whitefly populations in East and Central Africa and build the foundations for developing new control solutions. This project was officially approved in October, 2014 and includes 13 research group from in countries including Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, USA, Colombia, Israel, Australia, Spain, UK, France and China.
This is the third annual meeting of this project. During the meeting, the research progresses and challenges were discussed in detail. In addition, the research directions for the second phase of the project were discussed.
