Knowledge to improve food security
May 22, 2013 Leave a comment
The latest Plantwise newsletter is here. Click ‘Read more’ to find out about the launch of Plantwise in Ghana, discussions on greater collaboration between CABI and agricultural stakeholders in Myanmar, support for Plantwise from the European Union, and developments in the Knowledge Bank.
May 21, 2013 Leave a comment
There are many ways that data from plant clinics can inform agricultural activities. Clinic data can be used to identify the distribution of major crops and diseases, and help to flag up new and emerging pests and diseases. These data can also contribute to the monitoring of the quality of advice given to farmers at plant clinics, and be used to determine what additional training plant doctors might need.
The Plantwise Online Management System will enable plant health stakeholders to view analyses of their plant clinic data © CABI
CABI Country Coordinators and EU Resource Staff for several Plantwise countries gathered in Egham, UK for a two-day course on data management, facilitated by the Plantwise Knowledge Bank team. The course emphasised the importance of collecting good quality data from the plant clinics, and managing it effectively within the country, so that this can provide information to farmers, extension workers, researchers, and other plant health stakeholders.
May 9, 2013 Leave a comment
Bees from the orchard leave any fireblight bacteria in the tube through which they enter their hive © Rudolf Moosbeckhofer, AGES
Fireblight is a bacterial disease caused by the species Erwinia amylovora that affects fruit trees including apple and pear. It also affects other members of the rose family, including roses, crabapples and hawthorn. The disease can quickly spread through a plant, killing it within a few months, and can devastate entire orchards within a season. Fireblight is difficult to control; there are no chemicals that are effective once the disease has taken hold, and the spread can mainly only be slowed by pruning infected branches. Early detection of fireblight is therefore essential. Researchers at the Vienna University of Technology have devised a method to detect the disease, not on the fruit trees but on the bees that pollinate them. Read more of this post
May 1, 2013 Leave a comment
Plantwise hosted an exhibit stand during the G8 conference, giving demos of the Knowledge Bank. Credit: Patricia Neenan © CABI
With a successful first day at the G8 conference wrapped up, and hundreds of tweets posted with ideas for how open data can contribute to increased food security, Day 2 kicked off with Dr Kathryn Sullivan from NOAA welcoming the delegates, and a session on ‘What Does Open Data Look Like?’ chaired by Prof Tim Benton, who has guest blogged for Plantwise before. Join in the discussion on Twitter using #OpenAgData and #Plantwise, and follow us on Facebook for more news. Read more of this post
April 30, 2013 Leave a comment
US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Agriculture Under Secretary Dr. Catherine Woteki at the G-8 International Conference on Open Data for Agriculture. Credit: USDAgov (CC BY 2.0 license)
Delegates from around the world are convening in Washington D.C. this week at the G8 conference on Open Data for Agriculture. The goal of the conference is to: “Obtain commitment and action from nations and relevant stakeholders to promote policies and invest in projects that open access to publicly funded global agriculturally relevant data streams, making such data readily accessible to users in Africa and world-wide, and ultimately supporting a sustainable increase in food security in developed and developing countries”. Plantwise is exhibiting at the conference, and we are collecting some of the top tweets here on our blog. You can watch the whole conference live on the web here. Join in the discussion on Twitter using #OpenAgData and #Plantwise, and follow us on Facebook for more news. Read more of this post
April 8, 2013 1 Comment
Dr IMO Shamie, of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry & Food Security, Sierra Leone, will be sharing his experiences of working with Plantwise. Credit: Wade Jenner © CABI
This week, the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) is holding its 8th session of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM8) at the FAO headquarters in Rome. This conference will be a chance for members to discuss current plant protection issues, particularly with regard to plant pests. Plantwise has been invited to host a side event at the conference. During this event, National Plant Protection Organisation (NPPO) representatives from several developing countries will share the work that they have done with Plantwise to develop plant health systems in their countries. Read more of this post
March 11, 2013 Leave a comment
A plant clinic in Uganda © RIC-NET
This article is adapted from a post on the Rwenzori Information Centres Network blog.
In a bid to create awareness about plant clinics in Uganda, Plantwise organized a one day sensitization workshop at Lesuiex Centre in Kabarole District about improving food security and the lives of smallholder farmers in Uganda.
January 11, 2013 2 Comments
by Daniel O’Hara
Post-harvest losses are only part of the food waste problem © CABI
Yesterday saw the release of a report from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers which highlighted the shocking level of waste within the global food system.
The report, ‘Global Food – Waste not, want not’, claims 30-50% (or 1.2-2bn tonnes) of all food produced is wasted. In the context of a rapidly growing global population this amount of waste simply isn’t acceptable. The report also notes the waste that lies behind the front-line statistics. For each item of food wasted the resources which have gone towards producing it are wasted too. In a world of water shortages and energy crises this inefficiency can be devastating.
Despite its strengths, the report is limited in one respect. It fails to examine the entire food production process and does not take into account one of the biggest causes of food waste – pre-harvest crop losses. Although the report notes that “frequently poor weather conditions or attacks by pests of all types reduce the quality or quantity of crop harvested” it fails to properly account for the huge global losses which occur. Read more of this post
December 10, 2012 Leave a comment
The latest Plantwise newsletter is here. Click ‘Read more’ to find out about plant clinics being set up in Rwanda, the experiences of a plant doctor in DRC, and what plant doctor training really entails.
November 29, 2012 1 Comment
Fireblight on apples
Traditionally, farmers have bred their crops so that, in several generations, they have a variety that has a high yield or a particular taste or texture. These days, many farmers don’t breed their own crops but buy varieties that have been specially developed to perform well. However, it turns out that sometimes it is best to rediscover old varieties that naturally already have desirable traits.
Researchers at the Swiss research centre, Agroscope, were commissioned by the Fructus Association to look at the properties of apple varieties that are no longer widely grown. This is part of the NAP-PGREL project, which aims to record the properties of approximately 300 fruit varieties a year and make this information available to fruit growers. Read more of this post
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