Glucose Leaves A Bitter Taste As Cockroaches Learn to Avoid Insecticide Baits
Populations of the German cockroach (Blattella germanica) have rapidly evolved to be repelled by the glucose in insecticide baits that are used to kill them. Scientists found that the cockroaches had a ‘re-organised’ sense of taste which makes them perceive the glucose in the insecticide bait as bitter and repellent rather than sweet. Researchers first…
Plantwise news update May 2013
The latest Plantwise newsletter is here. Click ‘Read more’ to find out about the launch of Plantwise in Ghana, discussions on greater collaboration between CABI and agricultural stakeholders in Myanmar, support for Plantwise from the European Union, and developments in the Knowledge Bank.
So how can we deal with all this plant clinic data?
There are many ways that data from plant clinics can inform agricultural activities. Clinic data can be used to identify the distribution of major crops and diseases, and help to flag up new and emerging pests and diseases. These data can also contribute to the monitoring of the quality of advice given to farmers at…
Bees aid early detection of fireblight in orchards
Fireblight is a bacterial disease caused by the species Erwinia amylovora that affects fruit trees including apple and pear. It also affects other members of the rose family, including roses, crabapples and hawthorn. The disease can quickly spread through a plant, killing it within a few months, and can devastate entire orchards within a season.…
Black Rot Disease Hits Uganda
Vegetable farmers in the Kayunga and Mukono districts of Uganda are reporting crop losses due to black rot disease. One farmer, Twaha Kahooza of Kyampisi village, Kayunga Sub-county, says he had planted four acres of cabbages and was expecting about Shs18m (about £4,500 or US$7,000) from the harvest, however he only managed to get Shs5m…
Plantwise Photo Of The Month- May
This photo shows Antonio Limbau, the Deputy Minister for Agriculture of Mozambique speaking on the implications of agricultural open data for developing countries at the G8 Open Data for Agriculture conference on Monday in Washington, D.C. Governments in developed countries are working hard to make agriculture data open for others and accessible to farmers. The…
Top tweets from G8 Open Data for Agriculture – Day 2
With a successful first day at the G8 conference wrapped up, and hundreds of tweets posted with ideas for how open data can contribute to increased food security, Day 2 kicked off with Dr Kathryn Sullivan from NOAA welcoming the delegates, and a session on ‘What Does Open Data Look Like?’ chaired by Prof Tim…
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…