Ken Obasa

Areas of Expertise

• Fungal and bacterial disease diagnosis and management in small grain crops, field crops, and hemp.
• Diagnosis and management of virus disease issues of wheat.
• Detection and characterization of new and emerging disease pathogens in the Texas Panhandle, conducting investigations to understand the pathogen biology and disease epidemiology, with the goal of formulation of appropriate and effective management recommendations.

Diseases of small grains and field crops

Professional Summary

Ken Obasa, Ph.D.is a professor in the Texas A&M University Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology. His research focuses on investigation of important endemic and new diseases of wheat, triticale, corn, sorghum, cotton, peanut, hemp, and other major crops cultivated in the Texas Panhandle. His research priorities are informed by stakeholder needs, detections made through diagnosis, and identifications from conducting disease scouting and surveys. The primary goal of his research is to provide farmers and other stakeholders with timely and pertinent information for making important decisions to support profitable crop production. He has published in collaboration with his colleagues at Texas A&M University, peer-reviewed articles
that provide novel insights into the epidemiology of an important wheat disease pathogen vector, discovery of new diseases of important crops in theTexas Panhandle, and globally. His work on mycotoxins led to the discovery of a novel mechanism for fumonisin detoxification. Obasa was the chair(2021-22) of the Diagnostic Committee of the American Phytopathological Society (APS), current chair of the north central research and extension activity-184 branch (NCERA-184), notes associate editor for Plant Disease journal (APS), and serves as e reviewer for several peer-review scientific
journals. He also is the director of the Texas High Plains Plant Disease Diagnostic laboratory, Amarillo, and an adjunct professor at West Texas A&M
University.