How tablets are transforming Nepal’s plant clinics
I meet Man Bahadur Chhetri and his assistant on a bright Sunday morning as they are setting up the e-plant clinic in Gorkana, on the outskirts of Kathmandu. On the drive over, I saw plenty of maize being grown on smallholder plots and, here and there, tomatoes in polytunnels. Around the corner from the clinic,…
Latest Plantwise newsletter out now
Looking for something to read over the weekend? The latest Plantwise newsletter has just been published, featuring stories about the programme from around the world. The big headline for this edition is that our work has recently been recognised with two major awards: the $100,000 St Andrews Prize for the Environment and the Bond International…
Plant Clinics and Farm Visits Diagnosing Fall Armyworm in Malawi
Mr. Guze Kampinga visits the plant clinic at Dowa Turn Off with his damaged maize samples and is received by Mrs Eluby Phiri a trained plant doctor. “I have grown about 0.8 ha of rain-fed and 0.4ha irrigated maize (Ndimba). This year a strange pest has seriously damaged my maize and almost all people in…
Plantwise Annual Report 2016 released
The Plantwise Annual Report is an update on the programme, listing key highlights along with details on progress, lessons learned and next steps for each of the three programme components: Plant Health Systems Development, the Knowledge Bank and Monitoring & Evaluation. Highlights include (cumulative numbers): 9.8 million farmers have been reached directly and indirectly through…
Reaching more farmers with innovative early morning plant clinics
It is generally accepted that early morning is the best time to learn and retain new information. As the saying goes: “the early bird gets the worm.” This long-held belief is being applied in Vavuniya, Sri Lanka, where plant clinics are now conducted at the crack of dawn. The plant clinics are a platform for…
Plantwise Ghana Educates Farmers on Major Crop Pest and Diseases
As part of its mass extension activities for 2016, Plantwise Ghana rolled out a four-week radio campaign to educate farmers about the detection and management of crop pests and diseases prevalent in the project’s five intervention regions in Ghana. The campaign, which took place between September and October 2016, involved five radio stations noted for…
Shifting gears: expansion of e-plant clinics in Kenya
“No matter where you’re from, your dreams are valid!”  Passionate words spoken in 2014 during an indelible Oscar moment. The utterance of these words, coupled with the winning of an Academy Award, announced Lupita Nyong’o’s entry into the global stage. Two years later in Lupita’s country of origin, Kenya, long-held dreams in the plant health…
Successful e-Plant Clinic launch in Nepal
E-plant clinic training commenced in Pokhara, Nepal, today, after a successful launch in Kathmandu earlier this week. ICT intervention for the country is funded by the Centre for Applied Crop Science (CACS), UK Government and training was inaugurated in Kathmandu by Dr. Suroj Pokharel, Secretary, Ministry of Agricultural Development and chaired by Sh. Dila Ram…
Challenges and Opportunities for Women Farmers in Nepal
In developing countries, rural women play a significant role in agriculture, accounting for 60-80% of food production and selling food products at markets [1]. In Nepal, it’s been reported that up to 98% of women are employed in the agricultural sector, a percentage which is higher than that for men (91%) [1b]. Contribution by women…
CABI argues for stronger links between rural advisory services and research, private sector and ICTs
At a meeting of the world’s top agricultural scientists in China, CABI’s Executive Director for Global Operations, Dr Ulrich Kuhlmann, stressed the key role rural advisory services play in lifting agricultural communities out of poverty. As he pointed out, “Some of the most relevant and appropriate information isn’t high tech or innovative, but that doesn’t…