Plant protection

Encompasses pathology, entomology, and weed science. KARC conducts rust surveillance across Arsi and West Arsi, screens germplasm against Russian wheat aphid, performs resistant-variety evaluation, provides diagnostics, and verifies agricultural pesticides. It also implements integrated disease management and early-warning advisories to reduce crop losses, validates seed-treatment and foliar fungicides such as Nativo and Novel, and develops sequential herbicide packages for stubborn weeds like Snowdenia polystachya.