Plantwise Photo Of The Month – June
Photo Of The Month for June shows a plant clinic during market day at a village near Machakos, 50 kilometers outside Kenya’s capital city Nairobi. The photo shows a farmer showing a crop sample to a plant doctor, who is using his knowledge and reference material on the table to diagnose what is wrong with…
Keeping an eye on banana disease
Dr. Fen Beed is an experienced plant pathologist based at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He leads research for development activities to mitigate the impact of diseases of maize, soybean, cowpea, cassava, banana and vegetables and promotes plant diseases on problematic weeds. The first and critical step to manage…
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (29 May 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 the first report of pineapple heart rot caused by Phytophthora nicotianae in China’s Hainan Province, a new species of Aeolothrips from mango crops in Mexico and details of Cylas puncticollis, a new pest…
Update: Plant Health News (22 May 13)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including farmers abandoning rice crops due to poor returns, crops in Bangladesh destroyed by a cyclone and trading conflict for coffee in Democratic Republic of Congo. Click on the link to read more of the latest plant health news!
Rotterdam Convention members agree prior consent required for azinphos-methyl trade
Contributed by Melanie Bateman, CABI Switzerland It is estimated that 2 million chemical preparations are for sale around the world[1]. Many of these chemicals have hazards associated with them. An estimated 200,000 people die each year of pesticide poisoning[2]. And yet, it is very difficult for any one country acting on its own to track all of…
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (15 May 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 recent multiple introductions of the gall-forming aphid Pemphigus bursarius into Japanese islands, the distribution and characterization of Streptomyces species causing potato common scab in Germany and the first report of Endoclita signifer as…
Bees aid early detection of fireblight in orchards
Fireblight is a bacterial disease caused by the species Erwinia amylovora that affects fruit trees including apple and pear. It also affects other members of the rose family, including roses, crabapples and hawthorn. The disease can quickly spread through a plant, killing it within a few months, and can devastate entire orchards within a season.…
Update: Plant Health News (08 May 13)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including the risk of Septoria attack if sprays are delayed, an internet data portal plan from the banana industry and new plant protein discoveries that could ease global food and fuel demands. Click on the link to read more of the latest plant health…
Black Rot Disease Hits Uganda
Vegetable farmers in the Kayunga and Mukono districts of Uganda are reporting crop losses due to black rot disease. One farmer, Twaha Kahooza of Kyampisi village, Kayunga Sub-county, says he had planted four acres of cabbages and was expecting about Shs18m (about £4,500 or US$7,000) from the harvest, however he only managed to get Shs5m…
Plantwise Photo Of The Month- May
This photo shows Antonio Limbau, the Deputy Minister for Agriculture of Mozambique speaking on the implications of agricultural open data for developing countries at the G8 Open Data for Agriculture conference on Monday in Washington, D.C. Governments in developed countries are working hard to make agriculture data open for others and accessible to farmers. The…