Factsheet of the month: April 2015 – Trapping banana weevils
According to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Tanzania and Uganda, who produce almost half of all bananas in Africa, are only achieving 9% of their expected yield. This year sees the start of a 5-year project to develop high-yielding, pest resistant banana hybrids. Rony Swennen, the project’s leader, says that he hopes this…
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (01 Apr 15)
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 Alternaria leaf blight disease on oil palm in Thailand, caused by Alternaria longipes, the detection of a virus affecting chilli pepper in Chihuahua, Mexico and the…
Update: Plant Health News (25 Mar 15)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including early reports on the damage caused by Tropical Cyclone Pam in Vanuatu, the first carbon neutral banana farm recognised in Costa Rica and training for Citrus farmers in Ghana on the use of technology to increase yields. Click on the link to read more…
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (18 Mar 15)
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 new gall midges from Papua New Guinea, the first report of white rust of rocket caused by Albugo candida in South Africa and the first report of Botrytis pseudocinerea causing…
Old friends and new faces at CPM10
Blog post by Roger Day, Deputy Regional Director (Development), CABI Africa. As delegates gathered for the opening of the 10th session of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM) at FAO in Rome, it was clear from the greetings and smiles, not to mention hugs and kisses, that many of them know each other well already. That’s probably…
Update: Plant Health News (11 Mar 15)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including the revitalization of the banana industry in Jamaica, an assessment of the impact of climate change on agriculture and record wheat output likely in India, despite crop damage. Click on the link to read more of the latest plant health news!
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (04 Mar 15)
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 new species of plant parasitic nematodes from tea plantations in Iran, the impact of fungicides and biocontrol agents in managing peduncle blight of tuberose caused by Lasiodiplodia theobromae, and aphid…
Factsheet of the month: March 2015 – Tomato yellow leaf curl management
A recent plant protection conference in Hanoi highlighted dangerous levels of pesticide use in agriculture in Vietnam. The head of Vietnam’s Plant Protection Department, Nguyen Xuan Hong, announced that a 5-year Integrated Pest Management (IPM) project had been approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. IPM will be important in reducing both costs to…
Update: Plant Health News (25 Feb 15)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including the Giant African land snails invading Cuba, the debate over GM bananas in Uganda and a new report from the World Food Programme on connecting farmers to markets. Click on the link to read more of the latest plant health news!
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (18 Feb 15)
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 passiflora root-rot of passion fruit caused by two species of Globisporangium in Japan, a study into grey mold and sclerotinia rot of okra plants and the…