Update: New Pest & Disease Records (16 Oct 13)
We’ve selected a few of the latest new geographic, host and species records for plant pests and diseases from CAB Abstracts. Records this fortnight include observations on the mutualism between armoured scale insects and ants, information about the Colletotrichum orbiculare species complex and the biosecurity implications of new technology and discovery in plant virus research.
The Hindu covers Plantwise India
National newspaper The Hindu publishes article discussing the positive impact of Plantwise activities in the country. With support of the M.S.Swaminathan Research Foundation, ‘plant doctors are coming to the rescue’ of farmers in India. Read full article here.
Update: Plant Health News (09 Oct 13)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including a new rice variety to cushion farmers against crop loss through blast, a checklist of scale insect pests in Iran and Asian citrus growers looking to diversity their crop with bananas. Click on the link to read more of the latest plant health…
Water and oil do mix after all: of great discoveries and the prospects for agriculture in a desolate land
Report by Willis Ochilo and MaryLucy Oronje After years of desolation, Turkana has come alive with its colossal water reservoir and plenty of oil to boot. Massive reservoirs of underground water and underground oil have been discovered in a remote part of Kenya – the Turkana region. Turkana is situated on the north-western part of…
Photo of the Month, October 2013 – Idyllic location for training in Malawi
Plantwise was launched in Malawi in May 2013 after vigorous training of plant doctors in crop pest identification and how to give recommendations based on the identified pest problem. In the 14 plant clinics widespread in Lilongwe and Mzimba, there was need to understand the role that the plant clinic data will play in the…
Watch the new Knowledge Bank demo
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP6FzVJvb7o&feature=youtu.be Check out the latest video demo featuring highlights of the new Plantwise Knowledge Bank version 2.1. New translation capabilities and offline content delivery make the knowledge bank a shared resource for even more people in more communities worldwide. Regional pages focus on plant health problems that cross national boarders, and improved search and diagnostic…
Leave Them Bee- The Honeybees That Fearfully Avoid Hornets
In bees, fear is shown through avoiding dangerous food sites, thereby reducing the pollination of plants at the site. Scientists in this study looked at hornets (Vespa velutina and Vespa tropica) preying on the Asian honeybee (Apis cerana) in China. The hornets hunt bees on flowers and are themselves attacked by bees in defense. The…
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (02 Oct 13)
We’ve selected a few of the latest new geographic, host and species records for plant pests and diseases from CAB Abstracts. Records this fortnight include a pith necrosis caused by Xanthomonas perforans on tomato plants, the first report of dieback of mango caused by Fusarium decemcellulare in China and a distinct strain of Cowpea mild mottle virus…
New strategy required for delaying insect resistance to Bt crops
Transgenic Bt crops have been grown around the world since the 1990s and have contributed to increased yields by controlling agricultural pests. Due to the importance of this technology, there has been continuous study into the development of resistance to Bt crops and how best to avoid this happening. A recent investigation into the rapid…
Landmark climate change report will bring new concerns for food security
Tomorrow, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will release its fifth global warming report predicting indicators of climate change for the coming years. The expectation is that the temperature is set to increase even more dramatically than the last report predicted in 2007, causing a domino effect on weather conditions, oceanic trends and the multitude of ecosystems which…