AUXFIN and CABI helping smallholder farmers increase their yields through Plantwise project in Burundi
AUXFIN has teamed up with CABI as part of a mission to help around 400,000 smallholder farmers in Burundi fight crop pests and diseases and, therefore, grow healthier and profitable crops through the auspice of the Plantwise programme.
Gene editing of pigs worries consumers more than gene editing of tomatoes
A large survey of Japanese consumers shows that they have more negative opinions about the use of new gene-editing techniques on livestock than they do about the same techniques being used on plants. However, the context of survey questions affects the extent of those feelings. The survey findings were reported in the CABI open-access journal CABI…
AI Plant Doctor app launched to help diagnose pests and diseases on dragon fruit crops in Vietnam
A new state-of-the-art mobile application has been launched – available on computers or smartphones – to help smallholder farmers in Vietnam identify pests and diseases which can devastate their dragon fruit crops. Vietnam is the largest producer of dragon fruit in Asia and is the leading exporter of the ‘super fruit’ in the world. According…
CABI helps update Wikipedia species pages to help spread advice on fighting crop pests and diseases
CABI has teamed up with John Cummings – UNESCO’s ‘Wikimedian in Residence’ – to update Wikipedia species pages on a range of devastating crop pests and diseases including Fall armyworm, Banana Xanthomonas Wilt and Rice yellow mottle virus.
Training on biocontrol gives confidence to plant doctors from India
CABI scientists from its centres in India and Switzerland joined forces with colleagues from the Koppert Foundation to deliver a two-day training on using biological controls as part of an Integrated Pest Management approach to fighting crop pests and diseases. Koppert, who specialises in the manufacture of bio-based products globally, decided to support the course…
Reducing extreme poverty in Rwanda thanks to CABI-led Plantwise plant clinics
New research into the positive impacts the CABI-led Plantwise programme is having has revealed that its plant clinics have helped reduce incidences of extreme poverty in Rwanda by helping farmers fight crop-devastating pests and diseases.
Funding boost to help CABI ensure greater global food security
CABI has today received a funding boost from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) which will help it increase its efforts to help ensure global food security by stepping up the fight against crop pests and diseases. DFID has allocated CABI a share of a £61 million package to help equip millions more smallholder farmers around…
Improving resistance of Kenya’s cabbage and kale crops to TuMV disease
A team of international scientists from CABI, the Kenyan Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO), NIAB EMR (UK), University of Warwick (UK) and Syngenta (Netherlands) are seeking to improve the resistance of Kenya’s cabbage and kale crops to Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV). In the distantly-related Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa), a potentially durable TuMV disease resistance trait was identified by Professor John Walsh at the…
‘$10bn to feed 10 billion by 2050’, CABI tells AGRF
CABI has told the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) 2019 that investment in agritech needs to double to at least $10bn a year if the world’s smallholder farmers are to help feed a global population expected to reach 10 billion by 2050. Dr Dennis Rangi, CABI’s Director General, Development, speaking as part of a panel discussion on…
Biological controls viable alternative to pesticides for rice farmers in China
Between 2011 and 2015, CABI set up 22 Trichogramma rearing facilities as part of a project to promote the use of biologically-based Integrated Pest Management (IPM) for rice and maize crops. In addition to creating the Trichogramma rearing facilities, IPM strategies for rice and maize were developed in Southwestern China, Laos and Myanmar.