MLN Quarantine Facility in Zimbabwe

A modern quarantine facility to safely import maize breeding materials to southern Africa, and to enable local institutions to proactively breed for resistance against Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN) disease, was initiated in 2015 at Mazowe, just outside Harare in Zimbabwe. The site is a joint initiative between the Government of Zimbabwe and CIMMYT.

The MLN Quarantine Facility, the first of its kind in southern Africa, is located at the Plant Quarantine Institute in Mazowe, Mashonaland Central Province, one of Zimbabwe’s important research facilities run by the Department of Research and Specialist Services (DR&SS). The site is now functional, with land preparation complete, irrigation systems and electricity supplies connected. The first consignment of Double Haploid lines has been received from CIMMYT Kenya and these are about to be screened under strict quarantine conditions to ensure that they are MLN-free.

Mazowe MLN Quarantine Site, February 2017 (Photo: M. Mezzalama CIMMYT)

For more information contact:

Tanyaradzwa Guide SENGWE,

International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Zimbabwe

12.5 Km Peg Mazowe Road

Mount Pleasant Harare, Zimbabwe

PO Box MP 163

Email: T.SENGWE@cgiar.org

Location Map MLN Quarantine Facility Mazowe, Zimbabwe