Study to test rapid detection of mango fungal diseases

A FIELD study to test methods for rapidly detecting fungal diseases in the Carabao mango will run for three years, led by the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), with funding from the government and collaboration from Japanese researchers. The Department of Science and Technology and the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) are the government agencies funding the study, “LAMP Detection Assays for Anthracnose, Stem-end Rot, and Scab Disease Pathogens in Philippine ‘Carabao’ Mango,” PCAARRD said in a statement.

The project represents PUP’s first research and development project involving mango, a key cash crop, and will be led by Dr. Lourdes V. Alvarez of PUP’s College of Science.

Japan’s Mie University will collaborate as part of a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Joint Research Program (JRP).

JSPS JRP is a bilateral exchange program that started in 2004. Filipino and Japanese scientists conduct projects jointly under the program in accordance with their mutual agreement on international scientific collaboration, PCAARRD said in a statement.

It said the study will seek to develop loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assays for the detection of fungi behind conditions like anthracnose, stem-end rot, and scab.