The British Mycological Society, together with the International Society for Mycotoxicology, is delighted to announce Dr Harun M. Murithi, affiliated to the University of Illinois and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), as the winner of the inaugural Naresh Magan Lecture Award.
Harun gave his award presentation - “Know Your Enemy”: Strategies to Manage Soybean Rust Fungus in Smallholder Farms in Africa - to open a symposium held in honour of Professor Naresh Magan during the 12th International Mycological Congress, 11 - 15 August 2024 in Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Alongside his research, Dr Murithi is also Soybean Innovation Lab Pest and Disease Management Program Coordinator, training field extension officers and farmers in the identification, characterisation and management of soybean diseases and pests across Africa. This work involves establishing disease nurseries and demo plots to identify lines that are resistant to key diseases including Soybean Rust, Red Leaf Blotch and Frog Eye Leaf Spot as well as assessing resistance against root knot nematodes. He is also coordinating efforts for managing Soybean Rust through development of an early warning system and has established the effective use of social media platforms to raise awareness of Soybean technologies. He currently hosts a WhatsApp page with more than 700 members from more than 50 countries across Africa: the group members share images of diseased plants and Harun provides the diagnosis and management options. The platform has so far received more than 1000 images since its inception in March 2023.
“I am deeply honoured and humbled for the recognition of my efforts towards improving smallholder farmers’ livelihoods in Africa through research and extension. This prestigious award, in honour of Naresh Magan, reminds me that there is still more ground to cover in my journey in applied plant pathology.”
President of the British Mycological Society, Professor Elaine Bignell said: “We selected Dr Murithi as a worthy winner due to his impactful research on fungal pathogens that attack soybeans, threatening food security in Africa. We believe that Professor Naresh Magan would be delighted to see Dr Murithi achieve such recognition at an early stage of his career, for his excellent work on crop disease in Africa that has great societal benefit.”
Professor Sarah De Saeger, President of the International Society for Mycotoxicology, said: “The International Society for Mycotoxicology selected Dr Harun Murithi as the winner because of the innovative strategies he is using to combat soybean rust in Sub-Saharan Africa. His practical approach, reaching a broad network of farmers with timely information and real-time monitoring of rust cases, makes his research impactful while enhancing food security in the region.”
The British Mycological Society and International Society for Mycotoxicology have together established the Naresh Magan Lecture Award in honour of the late Professor Magan’s major contributions to the fields of fungal ecology, fungal physiology, plant pathology and mycotoxin research. The award of up to 1250 Euros, given annually, will support an early-career researcher to give an oral presentation at an international conference, on a topic in the fields of fungal ecology, fungal physiology, plant pathogens or mycotoxins.
Dr Muri