Update: New Pest & Disease Records (05 April 2019)

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 on North American poplar leaf rust fungus (Melampsora medusae) in China, reports on a new species of Momphidae identified in the Netherlands and a new relative of…
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Exploring the “art” in “climate-smart”

Originally published on CGIAR CCAFS Art has a place in climate discussions. Children, who are usually deemed too young to understand complex topics such as climate change must be involved as well.  A campaign with the theme “Climate Change: Youth Can Do Something” was organized on 7 October 2018 in Tra Hat Climate-Smart Village (CSV)…
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Test your plant health knowledge with the plant doctor quiz

Birdseye view of a plant clinic in Peru. A plant farmer gives advice to a farmer on a crop sample.
>> 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 quiz and…
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Biopiracy: The misuse of patenting systems at the disadvantage of local communities

In the search for new bioresources in increasingly remote and rural regions, researchers will use the traditional knowledge of local communities to support their search for new, untapped plants, animals or chemical compounds. The ethical (and sometimes political) issues surrounding this come when this knowledge is used without permission, and exploits the local community’s assistance…
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Phone app set to transform how low-income farmers in Africa invest in fertilizer

An upgrade to a mobile phone app now offers farmers across Africa even more benefits and cutting-edge fertilizer use technology. This will help farmers to grow healthier, more productive with increasingly profitable crops, as a result of more informed use of how small amounts of fertilizer impact the crops which they grow.
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Update: New Pest & Disease Records (05 March 2019)

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 report on a new pest on Althea in Turkey, a new species of longhorn beetle (Cerambycidae) in Albania and the first report of Angarus as an egg parasitoid of…
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"Work hard and always try to give your best – no matter what people say"

Yelitza Colmenarez in a sunflower field
In honour of International Women’s Day, Dr Yelitza Colmenarez, Plantwise Regional Coordinator for Latin America and Caribbean and Country Director of CABI Brazil, reveals the motivation and inspiration behind her career in science communications and says her mother and grandfather’s advice has helped her overcome barriers faced as a professional woman.
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CABI and ACIAR sign AUD $2.1 million four-year agreement to steer future collaboration

CABI and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) have signed a four-year agreement worth AUD $2.1 million to guide future collaboration that will fight a range of crop pests and disease which threaten global food security.
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Test your plant health knowledge with the plant doctor quiz

Birdseye view of a plant clinic in Peru. A plant farmer gives advice to a farmer on a crop sample.
>> 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 quiz and…
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Unregistered herbicides use rampant among smallholders

By Alex Abutu. Reblogged from SciDev.Net. African rice smallholders are increasingly using low-quality, unregistered herbicides because of inadequate capacity of governments to enforce strict monitoring of national pesticides regulations, a study says.
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