PlantwisePlus Blog

Since its launch early this year, the partnership between the Plantwise Initiative and the Ministry of Agriculture in Mozambique (MINAG) continues to grow. The National Directorate of Agrarian Services (DNSA) that falls under MINAG is the Plantwise implementing institution in Mozambique. There are currently 5 plant clinics established and running in Maputo and Manica provinces.

DNSA hosted the Plantwise Data Management training at their headquarters in Maputo. The training, which lasted 4 days from September 29^th to October 3^rd 2014, enhanced DNSA’s capacity to ensure that high quality data is captured at the plant clinics, with data integrity being maintained through out the data management process from data collection at the plant clinic to validation analysis and sharing. 8 participants drawn from the departments of Agricultural Extension, Plant Protection and the Institute of Agricultural Research were trained on data management. Dr. Liccinia Khosa, the Head of DNSA, officially opened the training. In her opening remarks, she emphasised the role played by Plantwise in improving the existing agricultural extension system in Mozambique.

A visit to the Moamba clinic, irrigation area 1 provided an opportunity for the participants to interact with farmers as they sought plant health advice from the plant doctors. Most farmers exhibited good pest management knowledge. At an adjacent farm near the Plant Clinic, Paulo Tenane while working on his farm appreciated the fact that he can now easily access advice on how to control pests and diseases in his farm.