Pests in a pandemic? India’s plant doctors will see you online now
This article was originally published by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. During coronavirus lockdown, Indian farmers have been able to join ‘e-clinics’ to get a diagnosis of problems plaguing their crops, helping limit the damage When Victor, Mary’s husband, decided to travel abroad for work, he left her a plot of land to cultivate in southern…
Call for content: Knowledge Bank factsheets
The Plantwise Knowledge Bank is a gateway to practical online and offline plant health information, and reinfocing agricultural advisory services around the world that provide plant health advice to farmers. It includes diagnostic resources, best-practice pest management advice and plant clinic data analysis for targeted crop protection.
Integrated Pest Management-promoting extension services linked to plant clinics win governmental Agri-Tech Extension Award in Beijing, China
An innovative Integrated Pest Management-promoting extension services linked to Plantwise plant clinics in Beijing was awarded first prize at the Beijing Municipal Agri-Tech Extension Award in March 2020. This governmental prize has been awarded every three years since 1996. This year the award recognizes the significant achievement on promoting integrated pest management (IPM)-compatible plant protection…
Lockdown support: farmers dial in to agri-experts for help
This article was originally published the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation website The phone never stopped ringing at this one place in Pudukkottai district, Tamil Nadu all through April 1st. The event was a special phone-in program organized by MSSRF in collaboration with Department of Agriculture, Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Vamban. Agriculture advisors and farmers…
Nuru AI expansion: Supporting farmers to diagnose crop diseases
An extension grant has been awarded to the PlantVillage Nuru project, developing an artificial-intelligence-based solution for the identification and diagnosis of crop diseases targeting smallholder farmers. Under the Inspire Challenge programme, the international research consortium CGIAR has awarded the project a $250,000 grant to scale-up and expand its activities to a global level. Until now…
PRISE project supporting Plant Doctor training in Malawi
In early December 2019, the Pest Risk Information Service (PRISE) project ran a series of workshops across Malawi to engage with Plantwise Plant Doctors on new pest risk forecast bulletins as well as to provide pest identification training to all Plantwise extension workers.
Plantwise releases two educational games for plant doctors
The use of digital devices such as smartphones and tablets to access and share information is rapidly expanding in all areas of our lives, and the agricultural sector is no different. Plantwise is already making use of digital devices, especially in rural areas of the world. Plant doctors, using smart phones and tablets not only…
‘$10bn to feed 10 billion by 2050’, CABI tells AGRF
CABI has told the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) 2019 that investment in agritech needs to double to at least $10bn a year if the world’s smallholder farmers are to help feed a global population expected to reach 10 billion by 2050. Dr Dennis Rangi, CABI’s Director General, Development, speaking as part of a panel discussion on…
A new AI-powered app scans banana crops for early signs of disease
By Emma Bryce. Reblogged from Anthropocene. The banana is the world’s most popular fruit: we consume 100 billion of them a year. And yet, their future is threatened by a spate of diseases that are ravaging crops worldwide. Now, researchers have developed a tool to tackle these silent killers: an artificially-intelligent smartphone app that can scan banana…
CABI programmes showcased at International Conference on Plant Protection in Horticulture
CABI programmes, Plantwise and Action on Invasives, have showcased their expertise in plant protection and improving rural livelihoods to a global audience of agriculture experts and scientists at the recent International Conference on Plant Protection in Horticulture held at ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru.