Located in semi-arid Eastern Kenya, Machakos county is home to the Umatui amazing site women group. The group comprises 15 members who mainly grow tomatoes, cowpeas, pigeon peas, and maize. It is among eight other women groups working with Katoloni Community Based Organisation (CBO), a non governmental organization under infonet biovision. The CBO runs a mobile Plant Clinic in Machakos county, Kenya and mostly targets organized farmer groups.
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 first report of sweet potato Badnavirus in South Africa. The first report of Arabis mosaic virus in rhubarb in Poland and the first report of maize yellow mosaic virus on corn in South Korea. Continue reading
The Plantwise training for plant doctors (Module 1: Field diagnostics and plant clinic operation) is unique in that it is the only international training that focuses on field diagnosis and uses live plant samples in the learning process. The training takes advantage of the fact that many of the symptoms caused by the different groups of pathogens are often similar irrespective of the host plant. The training has been widely praised by those just starting a career in field diagnostics as well as those trained to PhD levels as it is rare that the symptoms are laid out in this way.
Using specialised carbon-fixing material from blue-green algae, scientists have successfully engineered crop plants to boost photosynthetic productivity and crop yields. This exciting development promises to increase the yield of important food crops such as cassava, wheat and cowpea.
By Muhammad Faheem and Chan Fook-Wing
At the recent International Conference on Tropical Fruit Pest and Diseases (known as TROPED), which took place in Malaysia, attendees from countries including the Philippines, Fiji, China, Sudan, and India learned about Plantwise through a series of talks, demos, and an exhibition stand.
This year’s British Society for Plant Pathology (BSPP) Grand Challenges in Plant Pathology Study Group gathered at Chicheley Hall, Milton Keynes, UK, 25-28 September 2018. Chicheley Hall is a grade II listed country mansion, home of the Kavli Royal Society International Centre. This was the second meeting of its kind, following on from the first successful meeting at the University of Oxford in 2016.
CABI’s global Plantwise programme has a major impact helping farmers in Kenya grow more and lose less to crop pests and diseases, according to a new impact report published today. Research undertaken by the American Institutes for Research (AIR), funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and published today, shows that:
