Agri-Drinks next week Dec 3rd in London: Join us

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A monthly meet-up to bring together all those involved in communications, media and PR focused on food security, nutritional and agricultural issues. Join the facebook group to stay in the loop on upcoming events! Facebook group: http://on.fb.me/1w2upQ3
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Giving thanks and lending support for bountiful harvests and good health

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Contributed by Melanie Bateman Today, families in the US gather around the table for Thanksgiving, a national holiday to celebrate the harvest and to give thanks in general for all of life’s bounties. The United States is not unique in this custom; many other countries celebrate harvests and mark particular days as occasions for reflection…
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Update: New Pest & Disease Records (26 Nov 14)

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We’ve selected a few of the latest new geographic, host and species records for plant pests and diseases from CAB Abstracts. Records this fortnight include first report of Erwinia carotovora causing bacterial pod rot of cocoa in India, a new combination of viruses causing tobacco bushy top disease in Ethiopia and research into yam virus X, a…
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Update: Plant Health News (19 Nov 14)

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Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including the insect-resistant maize that could increase yields and decrease pesticide use in Mexico, nematodes that are threatening rice in the Ayeyarwady Region of Myanmar and a study into how salt-loving plants could contribute to sustainable global food production. Click on the link to…
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EU Evaluation finds Plantwise ‘highly relevant and timely’

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“The Plantwise programme is a highly relevant and timely initiative considering the high percentage of crops lost to pest and disease problems, the impact these problems have on especially small farmer livelihoods, and the probability that in the future plant health problems will be enhanced by climate change and globalization.”  Download and read the Final…
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Update: New Pest & Disease Records (13 Nov 14)

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We’ve selected a few of the latest new geographic, host and species records for plant pests and diseases from CAB Abstracts. Records this fortnight include the identification of Tomato yellow leaf curl virus infecting common bean in Japan, Diaspididae scale insects in olive trees in Brazil and the first report of ‘Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum‘ on carrot in Africa.
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Assessing risks to make informed decisions for safeguarding the health of humans, animals and plants

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Contributed by Melanie Bateman, Integrated Crop Management Adviser, CABI Switzerland For the first time since 2000, the World Trade Organisation hosted an international workshop on developments in pest risk analysis (PRA) in October 2014. The previous workshop was held only four years after the signing of the Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement).…
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Science and technology at the heart of agricultural development

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Reposted from devcooperation.org in celebration of World Science Day By Dr Dyno (J.D.H.) Keatinge, AIRCA Chair and Director General of AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center, and Dr Trevor Nicholls, AIRCA Steering Committee Member and CEO of CABI Science may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of development but…
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Update: Plant Health News (06 Nov 14)

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Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including analysis of the impacts of biotech crops, the role of salt tolerant plants in food production and 6 inventions that can help to prevent harvest loss. Click on the link to read more of the latest plant health news!
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Plantwise knowledge bank wins Open Data Award for Social Impact

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On 4 November, the CABI-led Plantwise programme was announced as the winner of the Open Data Award for Social Impact. This is the latest accolade for this innovative open access platform for knowledge to help farmers lose less of what they grow to crop pests and diseases. Plantwise knowledge bank Global Director Shaun Hobbs accepted…
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