Experts counting down to the “triple COPs” of the Rotterdam, Stockholm and Basel Conventions
Contributed by Melanie Bateman Three international conventions address issues related to chemicals and hazardous waste at the global level: the Stockholm Convention seeks to protect human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants; the Rotterdam Convention supports information exchange on hazardous chemicals and ensures that trade in certain hazardous chemicals only occurs with countries’…
Welcome to National Gardening Week 2015
“Gardens are one of the greatest things about the UK and we at National Gardening Week are passionate about them”, say the organizers of the country’s biggest celebration of gardening, which takes place from 13-19 April 2015. The National Gardening Week was launched four years ago and offers plenty of events and activities being run…
New edition of weed biocontrol catalogue gives information on more than 2000 releases
The fifth edition of Biological Control of Weeds: A World Catalogue of Agents and Their Target Weeds has been released after years of literature searches and the involvement of 125 weed biocontrol specialists. The publication of this catalogue, available as a searchable online database and as a PDF book, was led by Mark Schwarzländer, University of Idaho…
Yesterday’s bread against food waste
Contributed by Äss-bar New initiative against food waste launches in the Swiss capital According to a recent report by UNEP and the World Resources Institute (WRI), each year about 1/3 of all food produced worldwide, worth around US$1 trillion, gets lost, spoiled or wasted in food production and consumption systems. This means not only an…
And so, farewell to CPM10
Contributed by Roger Day, CABI With a delicate tap of her wooden gavel, chairperson Ms Kyu-Ock Yim signalled adoption of the report of the 10th Session of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM10) late on Friday afternoon. Delegates applauded; with satisfaction, with relief, in appreciation of the chair? Perhaps a bit of everything. Ms Yim…
Perú: Una visita al campo con los Doctores de Plantas en Huamanga-Ayacucho
Texto escribido por los doctores de planta de la Estación Experimental Agraria Canaán (INIA): Victoriano Eduardo Núñez Cuba, Melancio Huamani García y Aníbal N. Huarancca, y editando por Léna Durocher-Granger (CABI-UK). English summary follows El Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agraria (INIA), organismo público adscrito al Ministerio de Agricultura y Riego, a través de la Estación Experimental…
World Planting Day – 21 of March 2015
According to the astronomical definition, the first day of spring in 2015 is on March 20. When spring starts, nature also awakes! Not surprisingly, many favoured vegetables in Europe are sown in spring. That is why on March 21 we celebrate the World Planting Day. Urban gardening brings planting back to the cities Recently, the…
Electronic noses and other pest detection tech at CPM10
Contributed by Roger Day, CABI Some of the latest gadgets and gizmos for detecting plant pests were demonstrated and discussed at the 10th Session of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures on Thursday. Inspecting for pests, whether in the field or in consignments, can be like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. So anything…
Beware! Pests on the high seas
Contributed by Roger Day, CABI If you put all the shipping containers in the world end to end, the line would go round the world 5 times. So a problem with a very small proportion of them is still a pretty big problem. One such problem is that when a container is being packed with…
Tuta absoluta on the rampage in Africa
Plantwise plant doctors have been helping farmers in Kenya to identify and manage the devastating invasive tomato pest, Tuta absoluta.