Old friends and new faces at CPM10
Blog post by Roger Day, Deputy Regional Director (Development), CABI Africa. As delegates gathered for the opening of the 10th session of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM) at FAO in Rome, it was clear from the greetings and smiles, not to mention hugs and kisses, that many of them know each other well already. That’s probably…
Tuta absoluta on the rampage in Africa
Plantwise plant doctors have been helping farmers in Kenya to identify and manage the devastating invasive tomato pest, Tuta absoluta.
Plant clinics help improve yields in Machakos, Kenya
“Approximately 300 farmer-self help groups from Machakos County and its environs under the Katoloni community-based organization have registered improved crop yields in the last one year due to high levels of sensitization on crop pest and diseases at plant clinics in the region,” writes Maugo Owiti of HiviSasa.com. In the article, Pius Ndaka, a farmer…
Update: Plant Health News (11 Mar 15)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including the revitalization of the banana industry in Jamaica, an assessment of the impact of climate change on agriculture and record wheat output likely in India, despite crop damage. Click on the link to read more of the latest plant health news!
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (04 Mar 15)
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 new species of plant parasitic nematodes from tea plantations in Iran, the impact of fungicides and biocontrol agents in managing peduncle blight of tuberose caused by Lasiodiplodia theobromae, and aphid…
Factsheet of the month: March 2015 – Tomato yellow leaf curl management
A recent plant protection conference in Hanoi highlighted dangerous levels of pesticide use in agriculture in Vietnam. The head of Vietnam’s Plant Protection Department, Nguyen Xuan Hong, announced that a 5-year Integrated Pest Management (IPM) project had been approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. IPM will be important in reducing both costs to…
Plantwise coming to Milan Expo 2015
Over 500 million smallholder farmers worldwide provide food for two-thirds of the earth’s growing population. These farmers, and the major challenges they face due to crop health problems, will be the focus of a new interactive exhibit to be launched by the CABI-led Plantwise programme at the Swiss Pavilion during Expo Milano 2015. The universal…
Counting down to the 10th Session of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures
Contributed by Melanie Bateman, CABI Switzerland The 10th session of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures is fast approaching (16 to 20 March), and papers related to many of the items that will be under discussion have been made available on the website of the International Plant Protection Convention: https://www.ippc.int/core-activities/governance/cpm. For example, the draft International Standards…
Plantwise shortlisted for Olam Food Security Prize
The CABI-led Plantwise programme has been named as a finalist for the Olam Innovation in Food Security Award! This award ‘aims to recognize an outstanding innovation for its potential impact on the availability, affordability, accessibility or adequacy of food, as well as to support its further development.’ As a programme now working in 34 countries,…