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 ÂŁ4,500 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…
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (01 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 occurrence of Pachycoris torridus jewel bugs in Bahia, Brazil, the  assessment of wheat cultivars for resistance to septoria leaf blotch-causing isolates and the incidence and identification of Cassava tuber rot caused…
European Union Vote To Restrict Neonicotinoid Insecticide Use
After a European Commission vote yesterday (Monday 29th April 2013), Europe will enforce the world’s first continent-wide ban on neonicotinoid insecticides after concerns about their non-target impact on bee pollinators. The vote by the 27 European Union member states on whether to suspend the use of neonicotinoid insecticides was supported by 15 nations. The UK…
Update: Plant Health News (24 Apr 13)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including the multiple pressures that threaten pollinating insects, microwave technology to prevent pest diffusion and the UN to use the plant gene pool to improve agriculture. Click on the link to read more of the latest plant health news!
Separating the grains from the chaff, and all the pests that move with it
Contributed by Melanie Bateman, CABI Switzerland, and Roger Day, CABI Africa While responding to a food crisis in Tanzania in the 1970s, evidence indicates that the larger grain borer (Prostephanus truncatus) was inadvertently introduced into Africa through an infested food aid shipment[1]. Following this introduction and a later introduction in West Africa, the larger grain borer…
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (17 Apr 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 the root knot nematode, Meloidogyne inornata, on common bean in Brazil’s Paraná State, Glyphosate-resistant Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) on rice paddy levees in Japan and the first report of…
Update: Plant Health News (10 Apr 13)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including measures taken against Banana Xanthomonas Wilt in Tanzania, new citrus varieties released in Brazil and GM cotton linked to rise in aphid numbers. Click on the link to read more of the latest plant health news!