Update: New Pest & Disease Records (05 Aug 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 the first report of frosty pod rot on cacao in Bolivia, the first report of Sclerotinia rot caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum on lentil in Bangladesh and the first reports of Lettuce big-vein…
Update: Plant Health News (29 Jul 15)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including bacterial blight affecting pomegranate quality in India, women in Kenya growing crops in sacks to feed their families and a pledge from China’s Ministry of Agriculture to reduce fertiliser and pesticide use and improve water conservation. Click on the link to read…
Healing Plants to Feed a Nation
Growing up in a small village in Western Kenya, I often accompanied my mother and other village women on customary weeding expeditions. Whenever we came across sick plants in the fields—which was all too often—my mother would instruct me to pull them out and cast them aside. I did as she asked, but wondered to…
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (22 Jul 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 distribution and host records for white coconut scale (Parlagena bennetti), fungi associated with black mould on baobab trees in southern Africa and two new Uropodina mites from a pine plantation in…
Update: Plant Health News (15 Jul 15)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including Theni banana farmers in Tamil Nadu adopting more efficient production techniques, why GM crops have been slow to take hold in Africa and the bio slurry pellet method of rice cultivation that could save farmers time and money. Click on the link to read more…
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (08 Jul 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 the first report of Rice stripe necrosis virus infecting rice in Benin, the occurrence of Tomato zonate spot virus on potato in China and the first report of Cassava common mosaic…
A Leap from an ‘Analogue’ to a Digital Platform: The Story of Kenyan Plant Doctors
A blog written by Willis Ochilo The stage is set and all the participants are sitting. Beneath the veneer of silence that pervades the workshop room are deep-seated fears. And it does not take long for the same to come out to the fore. The setting is in Maanzoni Lodge in Machakos County. Here, the…
Update: Plant Health News (01 Jul 15)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including a reduction in banana yield in the Philippines due to the effects of El Niño on rainfall, a pest causing severe damage to tomato production in Nigeria and the use of pheromones to control insect pests in the field. Click on the…
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (24 Jun 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 the first report of the tomato russet mite in northern Chile, Cytospora species associated with walnut canker disease in China, and globalisation, the founder effect, hybrid Phytophthora species and rapid…