Taro Leaf Blight – My 50-year Role in its Downfall

Introduction 

This story starts when research into diseases of taro in Solomon Islands began in the late 1960s at Dala Experimental Station on the west coast of Malaita. It follows the involvement of Grahame Jackson, various scientific colleagues and other players in responding to biological, administrative, funding and other factors affecting the spread and management of taro leaf blight to the present day. It asks whether the lessons learnt from those experiences could have been better applied to more recent alien pest introductions and those that are sure to come in the future.
The story can be accessed via taro-leaf-blight and can be downloaded and saved.