Update: Plant Health News (23 Oct 13)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including the role of botanic gardens in food security, how grazers and pollinators shape plant evolution and a new soil testing kit designed for smallholder farmers. Click on the link to read more of the latest plant health news!
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (16 Oct 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 observations on the mutualism between armoured scale insects and ants, information about the Colletotrichum orbiculare species complex and the biosecurity implications of new technology and discovery in plant virus research.
Update: Plant Health News (09 Oct 13)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including a new rice variety to cushion farmers against crop loss through blast, a checklist of scale insect pests in Iran and Asian citrus growers looking to diversity their crop with bananas. Click on the link to read more of the latest plant health…
Photo of the Month, October 2013 – Idyllic location for training in Malawi
Plantwise was launched in Malawi in May 2013 after vigorous training of plant doctors in crop pest identification and how to give recommendations based on the identified pest problem. In the 14 plant clinics widespread in Lilongwe and Mzimba, there was need to understand the role that the plant clinic data will play in the…
Leave Them Bee- The Honeybees That Fearfully Avoid Hornets
In bees, fear is shown through avoiding dangerous food sites, thereby reducing the pollination of plants at the site. Scientists in this study looked at hornets (Vespa velutina and Vespa tropica) preying on the Asian honeybee (Apis cerana) in China. The hornets hunt bees on flowers and are themselves attacked by bees in defense. The…
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (02 Oct 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 a pith necrosis caused by Xanthomonas perforans on tomato plants, the first report of dieback of mango caused by Fusarium decemcellulare in China and a distinct strain of Cowpea mild mottle virus…
New strategy required for delaying insect resistance to Bt crops
Transgenic Bt crops have been grown around the world since the 1990s and have contributed to increased yields by controlling agricultural pests. Due to the importance of this technology, there has been continuous study into the development of resistance to Bt crops and how best to avoid this happening. A recent investigation into the rapid…
Update: Plant Health News (25 Sep 13)
We’ve selected a few of the latest stories about plant health. Records this week include the identification of plants’ natural defense mechanisms against pests, the first report of tomato yellow spot virus in Brazil and recordings of foliar necrosis of potato in India.
Resolving pest problems in Trinidad and Tobago
Article by Shamela Rambadan, CABI Country Coordinator. In Trinidad and Tobago many Plantwise plant clinics have been implemented to provide free information and advice to smallholder farmers. To date there are 8 plant clinics in Trinidad and 2 are planned for Tobago. CABI Plantwise is partnered with the Ministry of Food Production with extension workers from the Ministry and…
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (18 Sep 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 new rust species and hosts from Northern Pakistan, Colletotrichum species associated with cultivated citrus in China and the identification and comparison of Botryosphaeriaceae species associated with dieback and stem-end rot of mango…