Farewell to cowpea Fusarium wilt! Kaohsiung DAIS launches disease-resistant grafted seedlings, reducing pesticide use
Goodbye Fusarium wilt - no more "dying just as the money comes in" for cowpea! Kaohsiung DAIS promotes disease-resistant grafted seedlings, resistant to disease and requiring fewer pesticides
The incurable disease of cowpea, Fusarium wilt, now has a solution! Cowpea-growing areas have been ravaged by Fusarium wilt for nearly a decade, with mortality reaching as high as 70% at flowering, leaving farmers helpless and jokingly calling it "dying just as the money comes in"; the planting area has consequently shrunk by 30%. The Kaohsiung District Agricultural Improvement Station (hereinafter "Kaohsiung DAIS") launched disease-resistant grafted seedlings in 2016, effectively reducing the incidence of cowpea Fusarium wilt to below 10%.
