European Union Vote To Restrict Neonicotinoid Insecticide Use
After a European Commission vote yesterday (Monday 29th April 2013), Europe will enforce the world’s first continent-wide ban on neonicotinoid insecticides after concerns about their non-target impact on bee pollinators. The vote by the 27 European Union member states on whether to suspend the use of neonicotinoid insecticides was supported by 15 nations. The UK…
Top tweets from G8 Open Data for Agriculture – Day 1
Delegates from around the world are convening in Washington D.C. this week at the G8 conference on Open Data for Agriculture. The goal of the conference is to: “Obtain commitment and action from nations and relevant stakeholders to promote policies and invest in projects that open access to publicly funded global agriculturally relevant data streams,…
Bringing together technical resources to address the spread of plant pests
Julia Dennis reports from this week’s International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) 8th session of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM8) in Rome. A side event during lunch on Tuesday provided a demonstration of the www.phytosanitary.info. This website is a database of phytosanitary technical resources contributed by the world’s plant protection community. In 2012, member countries and other partners…
National Plant Protection Organisations to share their experiences of Plantwise with IPPC delegates
This week, the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) is holding its 8th session of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM8) at the FAO headquarters in Rome. This conference will be a chance for members to discuss current plant protection issues, particularly with regard to plant pests. Plantwise has been invited to host a side event…
Maize Lethal Necrosis Disease Spreads To Uganda
Maize Lethal Necrosis disease, which was first reported in Kenya and Tanzania, has now spread to Uganda, raising concerns for food security in the country. The Ministry of Agriculture has warned that Maize Lethal Necrosis has been reported in districts in eastern Uganda, including Busia and Tororo. A spokesman for the Agriculture Research Organisation, Robert…
Plantwise Photo Of The Month- April
To read more about the work Plantwise is doing in Bolivia follow this link. To read Spanish factsheets specific to Bolivia on the Plantwise Knowledge Bank click here.
From Beyonce to Lady Gaga- The Importance of Insect Taxonomy
Taxonomy is the system used to categorise species by defining groups of organisms on the basis of shared characteristics and giving names to those groups. To date, around 1 million insect species have been described, however it is thought that this only represents about 10% of the insect species living on Earth, meaning new species…
Plant clinics in Uganda: First regional plant clinic awareness workshop held in Kabarole
This article is adapted from a post on the Rwenzori Information Centres Network blog. In a bid to create awareness about plant clinics in Uganda, Plantwise organized a one day sensitization workshop at Lesuiex Centre in Kabarole District about improving food security and the lives of smallholder farmers in Uganda. It was also aimed at…
How Mobile Technology is Transforming Livestock Farming In Kenya
Farmers and vets across Africa are increasingly using mobile phones to issue alerts about potential pest and disease outbreaks. The recent introduction of mobile phones that use the open source Android operating system or the iPhone iOS operating system and include GPS and Google Maps have provided new opportunities for developing mobile phone applications, allowing communication…