Update: New Pest & Disease Records (05 March 12)
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 time the sapote fruit fly has been found on citrus in Brazil, Fusarium species causing cucumber rot in Iran, and a new species of nematode discovered in India.
Puddles of pests: why the weather really matters
Weather – an integral part of farming ©Paul Dickson While folklore has worked well for many farmers over the years, watching out for red skies or the wind changing direction isn’t always convenient, and a little more notice of hurricanes and tropical storms is usually appreciated. With recent stories of rain beating down on mangoes in…
Update: Plant Health News (29 Feb 12)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest news stories about plant health, including dehydrated weevils, bananas saved from nematode attack, and how weeds and diseases work together to take down sweetcorn. Click on the link to read more of the latest plant health news!
Getting Older Quicker: Wheat’s New Ageing Problem
Many of us dislike getting older, but you can usually predict how it will go: next year you expect to be 1 year older and you expect your body to be 1 year older. But what if instead of continually growing over a year, your body instead decided to grow for 6 months and then stop…
Leaf miner becomes vine connoisseur
Leaf miners have an eclectic palate between them, enjoying everything from sweet potatoes to coconuts and cashews. It appears that at some point they decided that something was missing – perhaps a fine wine to wash it all down? After intensive studying of diet, morphology and DNA barcoding, it has been revealed that a mystery moth…
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (21 Feb 12)
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 new, unnamed virus infecting tomatoes and Euphorbia species in Venezuela; first reports of watermelon viruses in Palestine and Serbia; and a phytoplasma that infects prickly pear being found in…
Update: Plant Health News (16 Feb 12)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest plant health news stories, including plants that resist pests by telling the time, the fly that’s endangering German fruit crops, and why less snow has led to more yellow-cedar trees freezing this year. Click on the link to read more of the latest plant health news!
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (09 Feb 12)
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 new phytoplasma infecting soybean in Costa Rica, a parasitic nematode causing damage to several plant species in Brazil, and the Mediterranean fruit fly spreading and widening its host preference…
Agricultural Super Ducks
Agricultural super ducks? You may think that the entire phrase is flawed. Ducks waddle around in parks, not on farms. You probably have never thought of them as being particularly ‘super’ as they paddle around the park pond, searching for scraps of bread. However, you’d be mistaken, as I was, for the humble duck is…
Update: Plant Health News (01 Feb 12)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest news stories about plant health, including the return of potato blackleg, new research on zebra chip disease, and an unexpected locust deterrent. Click on the link to read more of the latest plant health news.