Harun Muthuri

Harun is a postdoctoral researcher within the Research Participation Program- Agricultural Research Service, USDA-ARS (coordinated by ORISE), a disease and pest management coordinator in Soybean Innovation Lab (SIL) and a visiting scientist at IITA. He is interested in understanding how pathogens interact with plants with the aim of developing and delivering effective solutions to the numerous plant diseases and pests affecting agricultural productivity. His team develops tools that help farmers manage diseases and pests of soybean to improve productivity. Currently, he is screening various soybean genotypes to identify resistance against soybean rust, red leaf blotch, Sclerotinia stem rot and soybean root knot nematodes (RKN). He is also exploring early warning systems and use of AI for rust management among smallholder farmers. He is involved in capacity building for disease identification and management among soybean practitioners. In addition, he is studying virulence diversity of soybean rust and molecular diversity of red leaf blotch.