18 January 1983 First Gambian scholar begins at Lincoln College

Lincoln College has its first student from Gambia, on the West African Coast; he is Mr Bakary Trewally (28) a plant pathologist.

Mr Trewally, a scientific officer with the Gambian Crop Protection Service Department, is at Lincoln College to work for a master's degree in plant pathology.

He intends studying soil-borne diseases of leguminous crops as these are particularly troublesome in Gambia.

He graduated Bachelor of Agricultural Science with honours from Punjab Agricultural University, in India, in 1979.

On his return to Gambia he joined the Crop Protection Service headquarters at Yundum, about 21 kilometres south-east of the Gambian capital Banjul.

He has yet to determine the project on which he will work .at Lincoln College, but he will be working in the microbiology department under Professor A.P. Mulcock.

His project will relate directly to the work he does in Gambia.

"The main crops with which I work are ground-nuts - which you call peanuts - rice, sorghum, millet, maize and cotton," he said.

"Permits are now needed to import seeds or plant material, and many flower and plant seeds come from New Zealand," he said.

Mr Trewally went to the.United States and Egypt to study quarantine procedures in those countries.

In the United States he worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, on plant protection and quarantine .

In Egypt he worked on the inspection of ships in transit through the Suez Canal, and on vessels entering Egyptian ports.

In Gambia, Mr Trewally works on three levels: extension, teaching and research.

His extension work takes him to villages throughout the 6400 square-kilometre country, about one-sixth the size
of Canterbury.

He works with regional agricultural officers and 9 agricultural assistants at village level.

Crop protection teams work at six stations throughout the country, and carry out regular spraying programmes.

When disease infestations occur, Mr Trewally is called in to diagnose and confirm the disease and determine the
action that should be taken.

He also gives advice to farmers on crop rotation, if this is necessary to bring any disease under long-term control.

Farmers were told they must report any sign of disease as soon as possible so that an infestation could be quickly
brought under control.

Mr Trewally said that in every village the central meeting point was known as the Bantaba, usually a banyan tree with a bamboo bench around it.

The Bantaba was used for all occasions, sad and joyous: funerals, weddings, medical services such as vaccination, discussion of village problems and, of course, meetings to discuss crops.

"Before holding the meetings we have to approach the Alkalo, the head of the village," Mr Trewally said.

"Ninety percent of the people in Gambia are farmers, an electorally important section of the community, so the Alkalo of a village is a very important man."

Mr Trewally said that face-to-face meetings with farmers at the Bantaba were vital in getting them to understand how to deal with crop problems.

"We explain in simple terms what needs to be done, showing them photographs, and, sometimes, even microscope slides."

Gambia, with less than half a million people, has eight different languages, but two of these languages are widely used.

Mr Trewally will be at Lincoln College for about two years, so he will not be back in Gambia until late 1984.

He is looking forward to his wife of only one year, Mambinta who is 22, joining him here, so is seeking somewhere to live.

His first impressions of New Zealand are that this is a beautiful country with lots of friendly people.

"Ever since I arrived in Auckland, when I have not known where to go, people have gone out of their way to show me."

"I think that I shall be able to live here quite comfortably," he said.