PlantwisePlus Blog

Participants during the plant clinic data management training held at the Mpatsa Lodge Salima by Lake Malawi from 16th to 17th September, 2013 © CABI

Plantwise was launched in Malawi in May 2013 after vigorous training of plant doctors in crop pest identification and how to give recommendations based on the identified pest problem. In the 14 plant clinics widespread in Lilongwe and Mzimba, there was need to understand the role that the plant clinic data will play in the national Plant Health System. Plant clinic data management training was carried out for the eight participants from the Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Extension and Crop Development departments and World Vision who are directly involved in the supervision of plant clinic data collection and use.

The objective of the training was to highlight the importance of the plant clinic data as a building block for generating more information once the data is validated and analysed in-country. For example, the data will help in the identification of researchable issues, training of extension personnel, development of extension materials and other content such as factsheets and other relevant extension materials.

For more information about plant pests and diseases in Malawi, visit the Plantwise Knowledge Bank Malawi page.