Update: Plant Health News (03 Feb 16)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including the new parasitic wasp that can detect aphid infestation, the effect that El Niño will have on avocado in Peru and the threat of Huanglongbing (HLB) on agriculture in Colombia. Click on the link to read more of the latest plant health news!
Feasibility of adopting an IPM approach for sustainable Christophene production in the Northern Range of Trinidad
Contributed by Aldo Hanel, CABI. Brasso Secco is a pristine environment located in the Northern Range of Trinidad in close proximity to the world famous Asa Wright Nature Centre. This farming community, among others, is nestled deep in the bosom of the of the Northern Range where approximately 300 family farms depend on Christophene production for…
Factsheet of the month: February 2016 – Rotation against purple seed stain in soya
At the beginning of January, a new research centre opened in Benin, which aims to boost productivity and incomes of smallholder farmers, and create job opportunities. Researchers based at the Green Innovation Center, which has been funded by the Federal German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), will develop tools for training and improve frameworks…
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (27 Jan 16)
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 antifungal activities of Chaetomium spp. against Fusarium wilt of tea, the characterization of Alternaria species associated with muskmelon foliar diseases in Beijing municipality of China, and the first report…
Update: Plant Health News (20 Jan 16)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including the wild bananas that could help overcome TR4 Panama disease, the effect of El Niño on potato crops in Peru and the farmers in Tanzania who are being urged to grown drought resistant crops. Click on the link to read more of the…
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (13 Jan 16)
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 Tomato spotted wilt virus of potato in Korea, Iphimeis dives (Crysomelidae) beetle occurrence in beans in the western Parana State of Brazil and the first report of…
Climate-friendly rice wins 2015 Popular Science award
A new strain of low-methane rice has won Popular Science’s “Best of What’s New” award 2015 for engineering. The new kind of rice, known as SUSIBA2, has been developed by splicing a single gene from barley into rice plants to reduce the amount of methane the rice produces and, ultimately, the amount released into the…
Update: Plant Health News (06 Jan 16)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including the invasive plants posing risk to food production in East Africa, a new tomato variety a hit with farmers in Australia and the use of botanical big data helping to predict how plant species will react to environmental change. Click on the link…
Factsheet of the month: January 2016 – Blast in Paddy
Scientists from the University of Delaware, USA, have recently uncovered critical information about the effect that deadly rice blast fungus has on rice plants, which could lead to more effective effective control measures in the fight against this disease. The team found that Magnaporthe grisea, the fungus responsible for rice blast, causes an increase in…
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (23 Dec 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 Tomato leaf curl Gujarat virus showing leaf curl symptoms on cotton in Pakistan, the first report of Alternaria alternata causing leaf blight of onion in South Africa…