Update: Plant Health News (26 Aug 15)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including the risk of invasive pests spreading across Africa as a consequence of irrigation, research into genetic markers for disease resistance and salt tolerance of rice in Vietnam, and farmers in Honduras adopting sustainable methods to deal with increasing drought. Click on the…
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (19 Aug 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 Beet western yellow virus on pepper in China, the first report of Botrytis cinerea causing blossom blight on Japanese plums in Chile and the first report…
Update: Plant Health News (12 Aug 15)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including the potential impact of climate change on food security in Sub-Saharan Africa, the use of biocontrol to manage fruit fly in Kenya and the impact of Fusarium on banana production in Honduras. Click on the link to read more of the latest…
Plantwise publishes its 1000th Factsheet for Farmers!
Today, we are celebrating the publication of the 1000th Plantwise Factsheet for Farmers (PFFFs) on the Plantwise knowledge bank! PFFFs are written by trained partners in Plantwise countries around the world. Each factsheet provides information on how to recognise the problem, some background details about the problem and offers effective management advice to enable the…
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (05 Aug 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 frosty pod rot on cacao in Bolivia, the first report of Sclerotinia rot caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum on lentil in Bangladesh and the first reports of Lettuce big-vein…
Factsheet of the month: August 2015 – Sprays against Tuta tomato leaf miner
In recent years, Tuta absoluta has gained a reputation for being one of the most destructive pests of tomato and can cause losses of 80-100% in the field if left unmanaged. Tanzania are feeling the effects of the yield reduction with a 375% increase in the cost of tomatoes in the past 6 months. A carton of…
Update: Plant Health News (29 Jul 15)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including bacterial blight affecting pomegranate quality in India, women in Kenya growing crops in sacks to feed their families and a pledge from China’s Ministry of Agriculture to reduce fertiliser and pesticide use and improve water conservation. Click on the link to read…
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (22 Jul 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 distribution and host records for white coconut scale (Parlagena bennetti), fungi associated with black mould on baobab trees in southern Africa and two new Uropodina mites from a pine plantation in…
World Food Prize 2015
Earlier this month, Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, founder and chairman of BRAC, was awarded the 2015 World Food Prize, which honours contributions to the improvement of food supply. BRAC (formally Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) is the largest development organisation in the world and has been working to enhance food security and alleviate poverty since it…
Update: Plant Health News (15 Jul 15)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including Theni banana farmers in Tamil Nadu adopting more efficient production techniques, why GM crops have been slow to take hold in Africa and the bio slurry pellet method of rice cultivation that could save farmers time and money. Click on the link to read more…