Incidence of cassava mosaic disease and associated whitefly vectors in South West and North Central Nigeria: Data exploration

Abstract

Cassava mosaic disease (CMD) is one of the most economically important viral diseases of cassava, an important staple food for over 800 million people in the tropics. Although several Cassava mosaic virus species associated with CMD have been isolated and characterized over the years, several new super virulent strains of these viruses have evolved due to genetic recombination between diverse species. In this data article, field survey data collected from 184 cassava farms in 12 South Western and North Central States of Nigeria in 2015 are presented and extensively explored. In each State, one cassava farm was randomly selected as the first farm and subsequent farms were selected at 10 km intervals, except in locations were cassava farms are sporadically located. In each selected farm, 30 cassava plants were sampled along two diagonals and all selected plant was scored for the presence or absence of CMD symptoms. Cassava mosaic disease incidence and associated whitefly vectors in South West and North Central Nigeria are explored using relevant descriptive statistics, box plots, bar charts, line graphs, and pie charts. In addition, correlation analysis, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and multiple comparison post-hoc tests are performed to understand the relationship between the numbers of whiteflies counted, uninfected farms, infected farms, and the mean of symptom severity in and across the States under investigation. The data exploration provided in this data article is considered adequate for objective assessment of the incidence and symptom severity of cassava mosaic disease and associated whitefly vectors in farmers’ fields in these parts of Nigeria where cassava is heavily cultivated.

Is High Whitefly Abundance on Cassava in Sub-Saharan Africa Driven by Biological Traits of a Specific, Cryptic Bemisia tabaci Species?

“…The impact of climate change on the occurrence of whitefly populations has also been explored recently with a consistent relationship between B. tabaci abundance and suitable climatic conditions [ 58 ]; the increasing climate suitability in parts of East and Central Africa across the 39 years of the study shows a correlation not only with the increased prevalence of B. tabaci but also the devastating viruses transmitted by these whiteflies [ 58 ]. Of great concern presently is that West Africa, the major cassava-producing region in sub-Saharan Africa [ 59 ], has not yet witnessed superabundant populations despite this region having similar cassava mosaic begomoviruses and whitefly populations to those reported in East Africa [ 18 , 60 , 61 , 62 ]. Unravelling the factors contributing to the high whitefly populations in East Africa is of paramount importance to enable the development of whitefly management practices to prevent similar increases in whitefly abundance occurring in West Africa.…”

Survey dataset on the epidemiological assessment of cassava mosaic disease in South West and North Central regions of Nigeria reveals predominance of single viral infection

“…For plants exhibiting CMD symptoms, symptom severity was scored following previously described methods [2] . CMD symptom severity was scored on a scale of 1–5 as previously described [ 3 , 4 ]. CMD incidence was calculated as the proportion of sampled plants showing CMD symptoms.…”

Cassava whitefly species in eastern Nigeria and the threat of vector-borne pandemics from East and Central Africa

“…The AnSL1 and AnSL2 biotypes (SSA3) were the only biotypes reported on cassava in the study [29]. More recently, two surveys have been reported that detail the distribution of whiteflies in south-western [31,42] and north-central Nigeria [42]. The surveys in the region reported up to 35 whitefly species including B. tabaci and B. afer.…”