State of severe food insecurity in Africa
On the 7 July the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) announced that an appeal to help more that 10 million people in east Africa, suffering from their worst drought in over half a century, would be broadcast on ITV, BBC, Sky, Channel 4 and Channel 5.
Update: Plant Health News (22 Jun 11)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest news stories about plant health: New locust threat in Madagascar FAO, 21 June 2011 US: Tiny fly causes big trouble for Oregon’s fruit farmers Fresh Plaza, 20 June 2011 ‘Super wheat’ resists devastating rust SciDev Net, 17 June 2011 Weeding out Africa’s witch plant New Agriculturist, June 2011 U.S.…
Update: Plant Health News (8 Jun 11)
Here’s another taste of some of the latest news stories about plant health: Uruguayan scientists find apple decay pathogen fighter FreshFruitPortal.com, 7 June 2011 HortNZ hails govt biosecurity funding plan FreshFruitPortal.com, 6 June 2011 African Researchers and Farmers Begin Effort to Reduce Crop Loss from Striga Crop Biotech Update, 3 June 2011 Aflatoxin Infects 160…
Rising food prices could press the poor into hunger, warns Oxfam
This year, hardly a week seems to have gone by without the release of another report on global food systems and food security. Each has a different focus: in May there was an FAO report highlighting the problem of food waste, while earlier in the year I posted articles on the ‘Hand Picked’ CABI blog…
Update: Plant Health News (25 May 11)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest news stories about plant health: Deadly fungus threatens Latin American cocoa crop African Agriculture, 23 May 2011 US: Infection lets whiteflies thrive Fresh Plaza, 17 May 2011 Farming Tips Reach Developing World Via Cell Phone VOANews.com, 16 May 2011 Molecular technique advances soybean rust resistance research ACES News, 16 May 2011…
Update: Plant Health News (11 May 11)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest news stories about plant health: It Takes a Community of Soil Microbes to Protect Plants from Disease ScienceDaily, 7 May 2011 Disease-resistant coffee stuck in Ugandan labs SciDev.Net, 9 May 2011 Study Shows Corn Gene Provides Resistance to Multiple Diseases North Carolina State University news room, 5 May 2011 Long-term prospects…
CABI publishes third working paper
CABI’s own, Matthew Cock, covers strategic entry points for funding taxonomic support to agriculture in developing countries in the third working paper published by CABI. The importance of taxonomy to agriculture is discussed, with emphasis on how to address the need for taxonomic support in developing countries. One of the subjects explored by this paper…
Climate change and the fight against plant diseases
Earlier this month, Dr Adrian Newton from the James Hutton Institute spoke about the implications of climate change for pathogen defence in plants, at the Society for General Microbiology Spring Conference in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, UK. He explained, “The communities of microbes on plants are complex and include harmless and beneficial organisms as well as…
Wheat rust and climate change – a possible connection
A possible link between wheat stripe rust and climate change was observed by researchers meeting at the International Wheat Stripe Rust Symposium, which convened in Aleppo, Syria last week. The symposium organised by the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) aimed to review the current global status of wheat stripe rust…
Update: Plant Health News (27 Apr 11)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest news stories about plant health: Missing link in plant defense against fungal disease found ScienceDaily: Latest Science News, 25 April 2011 GM banana resistant to fungus shows promise SciDev.Net, 20 April 2011 Eradication Declared In South Florida Fruit Fly Fight Growing Produce – Florida Grower, 20 April…