Remote technology transfer and advisory services for farmers during COVID-19
Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, countries around the world are enforcing restrictions to save lives. Communities are having to change the way they live and work, often relying more on digital tools, if they can. During this unprecedented time, it is vital that smallholder farmers can still access plant health information and advice without…
Spotted coffee grasshopper in Bangladesh
Even during the COVID lockdown, news channels buzzed in Bangladesh on the arrival of swarms of an unknown pest that were partially covering mango and guava crops, and some forest trees in Teknaf Upazila, Cox’s Bazar District.
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (07 May 2020)
We’ve selected a few of the latest new geographic, host and species records for plant pests and diseases from CAB Abstracts. Records this month include the first report of Lasiodiplodia theobromae causing fruit rot in Melon in Thailand and the first report of the red palm mite Raoiella indica in Manabí, Ecuador.
Integrated Pest Management-promoting extension services linked to plant clinics win governmental Agri-Tech Extension Award in Beijing, China
An innovative Integrated Pest Management-promoting extension services linked to Plantwise plant clinics in Beijing was awarded first prize at the Beijing Municipal Agri-Tech Extension Award in March 2020. This governmental prize has been awarded every three years since 1996. This year the award recognizes the significant achievement on promoting integrated pest management (IPM)-compatible plant protection…
“Plant clinics help me continue to support my family through farming.” Meet Joyce, a farmer from Malawi
Mayi Joyce Vito is a middle-aged woman with a one-acre farm in Nanjiri, Lilongwe, Malawi. She grows groundnuts, maize and occasionally, cassava. She also has a piece of dambo land where she grows vegetables and has a number of banana trees. Nanjiri is one of the areas in Lilongwe which is regarded as a ‘food…
Working together online to support farmers during lockdown in India
“Necessity is the mother of invention” – Plato This is a famous phrase, indicating that a need or problem encourages creative efforts to meet the need or solve the problem. The world is currently going through a difficult time due to COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in an almost-complete shutdown of all activities across the…
Test your plant health knowledge
>> Latest quiz just added Plantwise plant doctors are at the heart of our plant clinic network providing advice and information to farmers, logging their data for the Plantwise Knowledge Bank, and always adapting to new outbreaks and technologies. Think you’ve got what it takes to be a plant doctor? Take our online plant health…
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (16 April 2020)
We’ve selected a few of the latest new geographic, host and species records for plant pests and diseases from CAB Abstracts. Records this month include the first report of the invasive Argentine ant Linepithema humile in the Tuscan archipelago and the first record of hairy cup grass Eriochloa villosa, an invasive grass species, in Austria.
More women are getting access to plant health advice through Plantwise and they grow the same crops as men
It is widely known that women have less access than men to agricultural extension services. Extension agents most often speak to household heads who tend to be men, as well as other male farmers. Plus, the extension agents themselves also tend to be men. Women often work longer hours than men too (12-17 hours per…
Lockdown support: farmers dial in to agri-experts for help
This article was originally published the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation website The phone never stopped ringing at this one place in Pudukkottai district, Tamil Nadu all through April 1st. The event was a special phone-in program organized by MSSRF in collaboration with Department of Agriculture, Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Vamban. Agriculture advisors and farmers…