Update: Plant Health News (24 Apr 13)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including the multiple pressures that threaten pollinating insects, microwave technology to prevent pest diffusion and the UN to use the plant gene pool to improve agriculture. Click on the link to read more of the latest plant health news!
Plantwise Uganda to add thirty plant doctors to their pool
Contributed by Jane Frances Asaba and Joseph Mulema, both CABI Africa, and Phil Taylor, CABI Egham-UK Plantwise has been operating in Uganda for 8 years, throughout which progress in setting up plant clinics with partners has been slow but steady. Recently, things are really taking off; extension workers being instructed to attend courses by their superiors, and their role…
Organized and motivated, African plant health leaders take issue in Rome
Participation in the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM) is much more than just turning up. It needs a good understanding of the technical issues involved, and of the way in which decisions are reached. To be heard, interventions from the floor must be made in the right way at the right time. So to build…
Separating the grains from the chaff, and all the pests that move with it
Contributed by Melanie Bateman, CABI Switzerland, and Roger Day, CABI Africa While responding to a food crisis in Tanzania in the 1970s, evidence indicates that the larger grain borer (Prostephanus truncatus) was inadvertently introduced into Africa through an infested food aid shipment[1]. Following this introduction and a later introduction in West Africa, the larger grain borer…
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (17 Apr 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 the first report of the root knot nematode, Meloidogyne inornata, on common bean in Brazil’s Paraná State, Glyphosate-resistant Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) on rice paddy levees in Japan and the first report of…
Plantwise shares impacts of local agricultural advice and partnership building with plant health leaders in Rome
For 350 international delegates and observers attending this week’s annual meeting of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM), standards will be adopted on plant protection with far-reaching implications on livelihoods, food security and ecosystems back at home. Plantwise, a development cooperation programme led by CABI which works to improve livelihoods in 31 countries, convened representatives…
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…
Update: Plant Health News (10 Apr 13)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including measures taken against Banana Xanthomonas Wilt in Tanzania, new citrus varieties released in Brazil and GM cotton linked to rise in aphid numbers. Click on the link to read more of the latest plant health news!
National Plant Protection Organisations to share their experiences of Plantwise with IPPC delegates
This week, the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) is holding its 8th session of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM8) at the FAO headquarters in Rome. This conference will be a chance for members to discuss current plant protection issues, particularly with regard to plant pests. Plantwise has been invited to host a side event…
Maize Lethal Necrosis Disease Spreads To Uganda
Maize Lethal Necrosis disease, which was first reported in Kenya and Tanzania, has now spread to Uganda, raising concerns for food security in the country. The Ministry of Agriculture has warned that Maize Lethal Necrosis has been reported in districts in eastern Uganda, including Busia and Tororo. A spokesman for the Agriculture Research Organisation, Robert…