Space-age technology for fight against crop-devastating pest outbreaks
Last night, the Pest Risk Information Service (PRISE), which uses state-of-the-art technology to help inform farmers in sub-Saharan Africa of pest outbreaks, was launched in Zambia at the British High Commission in Lusaka. The service is being developed by a consortium led by CABI and is funded by the UK Space Agency’s International Partnership Programme…
Photo story: e-plant clinics in Sri Lanka
E-plant clinics in Sri Lanka were launched in June 2015. Since then 190 Plant doctors have been trained and equipped with tablets, with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Agriculture funding half of the total number of tablets themselves. Being equipped with tablets means Plant doctors give higher quality recommendations, and the data collection process is also…
Gobernación de Santa Cruz lanza piloto de Clínicas de Planta Electrónicas
La Gobernación de Santa Cruz por medio de su ‘Servicio Departamental Agropecuario y Sanidad e Inocuidad Agropecuaria’ (SEDACRUZ) y de DSIA, conjuntamente con el Centro de Investigación Agrícola Tropical (CIAT-Bolivia) implementan clínicas de plantas en el departamento de Santa Cruz, Bolivia, desde el 2012. El grupo coordina acciones de entrega de servicios de diagnóstico y…
Data democracy: a new age
The power of data over our lives is hard to overestimate. It governs how we understand and interact with the modern world, how it is measured and controlled. So, what is being done to utilise open data for global food security and nutrition?
PRISE: speaking to the end user – pest alerts for plant doctors in Africa
After 2 hours drive, we arrive in Rufunsa District located approximately 150 kilometres east of the Zambian Capital, Lusaka. After exchanging pleasantries we settle down with Brian Siame, a trained plant doctor and one of the participants in our survey to find out more about plant doctor requirements for pest alert messages. After a brief…
How ICTs are key to Plantwise's sustainability
The Plantwise programme has expanded in terms of its plant clinic network, the number of countries involved and the number of farmers reached since its launch in 2011. This expansion has been facilitated to a significant extent by an ICT infrastructure, i.e. the Knowledge Bank and e-plant clinics (plant clinics equipped with tablets). Mozambique, Nepal, Malawi, Nicaragua…
Plantwise Pest Alerts – free email subscription service
Are you interested in keeping up to date with crop pest and disease literature reports? You’re invited to sign up to our monthly pest alert email containing links to recently published scientific literature from around the globe. On sign up, select which country or region you are interested in, or the Worldwide regional option. Feel…
PRISE Quarterly progress report – June 2017
PRISE inception workshops were held in Kenya, Ghana, and Zambia in March 2017. In the workshops it was recognised by partners that PRISE is a five year project and that the full benefits will only be fully available at the end. However to ensure that we deliver value in the interim we asked partners to…
CABI leads rapid identification of Fall Armyworm
Identifying armyworms usually involves taking the larvae that have caused the damage, waiting for them to develop in to adults and then studying the body and markings of these adults to identify the species collected. This process causes delays to identification, and could therefore delay action for what are some of the most ravaging crop…
E-plant clinics rolled out in Jammu, India
Last year Plantwise launched in Jammu & Kashmir state, India, with the establishment of 15 plant clinics across 3 districts in the Jammu region. This year sees the launch of an exciting new development, with the roll-out of e-plant clinics to revolutionize the extension system and support the quick transfer of information and advice to…