CAES Newswire

 College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences UGA Cooperative Extension
Menu
Published on 10/23/14

PMIL assistant director helps develop international agriculture Extension materials on aflatoxin control in smallholder peanut production

By Christy Fricks

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)’s University of Georgia-housed Peanut & Mycotoxin Innovation Lab (PMIL) is helping to create Extension materials that will be used internationally to curb mycotoxin exposure among smallholder farmers.

Jamie Rhoads, assistant director of the USAID-funded PMIL, which is housed in UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, helped to create a poster, brochure and guidebook that will help smallholder farmers worldwide decrease aflatoxin contamination in peanuts.

This outreach campaign was selected as one of the 20 proposals awarded from 250 international applications in response to the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation’s call for proposals “to unearth and award top innovations that are transforming smallholder farms in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific.” The mycotoxin outreach materials were recognized this month at the centre’s International Forum on Unleashing Science, Technology and Innovation for Food and Nutrition Security in Arnhem, Netherlands.

“We developed a suite of technologies that made it possible to evaluate and control aflatoxin at the smallholder farmers level, including in-field testing, better production practices and better post-harvest handling,” Rhoads said.

“I hope that the publication will reach many audiences and that it will spread the knowledge that aflatoxin contamination can be controlled on a smallholder level,” he added.

Aflatoxin is a dangerous toxin produced by the molds in the genus Aspergillus. It affects peanuts and other crops that are harvested and stored in hot, humid conditions.

Current methods of controlling aflatoxin involve infrastructure and inputs that are often too costly for smallholder farmers. Globally, an estimated 2.5 billion people are involved in smallholder agriculture.

Bryan Sobel, former agricultural program coordinator at Meds & Food for Kids (MFK), drafted and submitted the original project proposal. Rhoads worked with Sobel during his time as an employee and then consultant at Meds & Food for Kids.

MFK is a U.S.-based, non-governmental organization working in Haiti to produce ready-to-use therapeutic food, with peanuts as a primary ingredient. MFK also provides training and markets for farmers while conducting agricultural research to improve crop yields and reduce aflatoxin.

“The thrust of this award is that it asks MFK to provide the information made available to Haitian farmers [and] to smallholder farmers around the world concerning aflatoxin abatement methods,“ said MFK founder Patricia Wolff. “The former Peanut [Collaborative Research Support Program], and now PMIL, have been working in Haiti with MFK for more than five years. In that time, a lot has been accomplished—aflatoxin levels have fallen, and peanut yields and farmer incomes have increased.”

The 20 awardees are working with a team of marketing and publishing experts to hone the message of their materials for farmers and policy makers.

The completed materials will be published and distributed in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, in both print and electronic form, by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation.

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation is a joint international institution of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the European Union (EU) that works to advance food and nutritional security.

Christy Fricks is the communications specialist for USAID Feed the Future Peanut and Mytotoxin Innovation Lab.

Authors:
Christy Fricks
Experts/Sources:
Jamie Rhoads
Dave Hoisington, right, director of the UGA-led Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Peanut and Mycotoxin, and Jamie Rhoads, incoming assistant director, check out peanuts in a field in Tierra Muscady, Haiti.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.
Download Image
As a University of Georgia Cooperative Extension specialist in the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Bob Kemerait is well known for his devotion to the agricultural community of Georgia. He is also known for his international work with colleagues and small-scale farmers around the world. Recently, Kemerait took a team from UGA Extension to the Philippines, where he serves as a Fulbright specialist and works with the faculty at Mariano Marcos State University and farmers in the northern Philippines to improve disease management and other production practices. CAES News
UGA plant pathologist works to improve crop management and empower farmers across the globe 11/05/24 Robert C Kemerait Jr
As a University of Georgia Cooperative Extension specialist in the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Bob Kemerait is well known for his devotion to the agricultural community of Georgia. He is also known for his international work with colleagues and small-scale farmers around the world. Recently, Kemerait took a team from UGA Extension to the Philippines, where he serves as a Fulbright specialist.
Seth McAllister and farmer Mark Daniel discuss crop production and agritourism. CAES News
UGA Extension supports agritourism through expert advice and collaboration 10/24/24 Emily Cabrera
On a sunny day with bright-blue skies, I arrive at Mark’s Melon Patch in Sasser, Georgia, and immediately spot the familiar white University of Georgia Cooperative Extension pickup truck, the Terrell County Extension logo prominently displayed on the door. Seth McAllister, the Agriculture and Natural Resources agent for Terrell County, greets me with a broad grin and a firm handshake. Terrell County alone has 60,000 acres of row crops, half in cotton. But what McAllister loves most about his role as an Extension agent is the diversity of his work.
Combining data collection and analysis with plant pathology, precision agriculture and robotics, the UGA team will build a photographic library of the foliar symptoms caused by onion diseases and other physiological disorders, feed them into the AI software, and use machine learning to identify the diseases based on pattern and color recognition from the images. CAES News
UGA uses AI, robotics to improve Georgia’s Vidalia sweet onion crop 10/23/24 Jordan Powers
A multidisciplinary team of UGA researchers aims to enhance the competitiveness of Vidalia onion growers in Georgia by providing them with the ability to confidently detect onion diseases early, enabling them to make management decisions on their crop at a critical time. These abilities, researchers say, should result in increased yield and quality of marketable onions and an overall increase in efficiency and productivity.
Helenedamage web CAES News
Hurricane Helene: Preliminary damage assessment on Georgia agriculture and forestry industry 10/10/24 Claire S. Kinnard, Matthew Agvent
Today, Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper, in coordination with Governor Brian P. Kemp, the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and the Georgia Forestry Commission, announced the preliminary estimate of Hurricane Helene’s economic impact on Georgia agriculture is $6.46 billion. This figure represents the sum of direct crop losses, losses to businesses that support agriculture and forestry, losses to workers in those related industries, and estimated recovery and restoration costs that agricultural businesses will face.
Nino Brown stands in front of a peanut field holding up a red net bag of harvested peanuts above his head as he speaks to participants in the Georgia Peanut Tour in 2022. CAES News
CAES experts study oil production to boost Georgia’s peanut power 09/05/24 Maria M. Lameiras
A new study by experts in the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences is seeking to increase the value of Georgia’s peanut crops for new markets while reducing losses caused by aflatoxin, a consistent threat to the No. 1 peanut-producing state in the United States. The four-year, $490,000 grant will take a systems-based approach toward developing high-oil peanut varieties bred to withstand the unique climate and pest pressures of the Southeast.
Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium CAES News
Keep on the grass 08/29/24 Emily Cabrera, Scott Michaux
When the University of Georgia Bulldogs step between the hedges at Sanford Stadium, the grass on Dooley Field needs to look perfect. More importantly, though, it needs to help safeguard the health of athletes who compete on it. Gerald Henry plays a big role in the latter. The UGA Athletic Association’s endowed professor in environmental turfgrass leads a research team in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences committed to creating sports fields that look good and perform well to limit the occurrence of injuries.