Yam anthracnose disease is threatening the survival of the Sweet yam (Dioscorea alata) crop in Jamaica. The common control strategy for this disease in Jamaica involves the use of a fungicide called Topsin.

In this study, silver nanoparticles were used as spray on infected Sweet yam plants. The objective of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of selected silver nanoparticles in controlling the yam anthracnose disease in Jamaica. The hypothesis is that nanoparticles will be able to suppress the development of the yam anthracnose disease.

A Sweet yam farm used as the experimental plot was divided into four sections, and treated as follows: section a) silver nanoparticles applied; section b) a single concentration of Topsin applied; section c) combination of Topsin with nanoparticles applied and section d) untreated infected plants. The plants were monitored over a six month period and assessed for degree of infection and yield of tubers.

The results illustrates that it may be beneficial to fight the yam anthracnose disease in Sweet yam plants with silver nanoparticles. This is preliminary research, efforts are on towards synthesis and selection of designed nanoparticles for application in vitro.

The authors wish to acknowledge UWI-SUNY NSF BREAD PHENO Project funding and the collaboration regarding Yam Biotechnology Research. PI – Prof. Omowunmi Sadik; Co-PI – Prof. Helen Asemota.