Training helps Nepal plant scientists defend against viral disease

Nepal and participants in a trellised urban field.
Naidu Rayapati, right, views plants in the field at a Nepal workshop.

Helping scientists and farmers in Nepal, Naidu Rayapati, professor of plant pathology and director of the WSU Irrigated Agriculture Research & Extension Center, co-led a hands-on training course on viral diseases that harm vegetable crops.

More than 20 early-career scientists from the Nepal Agricultural Research Council, academic institutions and non-profits learned how to identify symptoms and detect viruses in the field, in a three-day course held this spring in Kathmandu, Nepal.

The course was funded by USAID’s Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Integrated Pest Management (IPM IL), managed by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Rayapati co-led the course with Amer Fayad, Associate Director of IPM IL at Virginia Tech.

Course participants came away with better knowledge to protect their crops.

Learn more about WSU efforts to stop the spread of plant diseases here.

Rayapati speaking a workshop at the head of a table surrounded by listeners.