Resolving pest problems in Trinidad and Tobago
Article by Shamela Rambadan, CABI Country Coordinator. In Trinidad and Tobago many Plantwise plant clinics have been implemented to provide free information and advice to smallholder farmers. To date there are 8 plant clinics in Trinidad and 2 are planned for Tobago. CABI Plantwise is partnered with the Ministry of Food Production with extension workers from the Ministry and…
Plantwise visits ‘open source GIS’ conference, FOSS4G 2013
On Thursday 19th November, I attended the ‘Free and Open Source Software For GIS’ (FOSS4G) conference in Nottingham, UK with two of my colleagues from the Plantwise Knowledge Bank. The conference, organised by OSGeo, had the strapline “Geo For All” and aimed to show that the tools that this Geographic Information Systems (GIS) community is…
Plantwise knowledge bank well-received in Brazil
Last week, Cambria Finegold, Head of Project Development for the Plantwise knowledge bank, gave a seminar at São Paulo State University (UNESP), one of the largest agricultural universities in Brazil. The seminar, entitled “The Plantwise Knowledge Bank for research on Distribution, Identification, and Control of Agricultural Pests – Use and Potential” generated positive feedback from…
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (18 Sep 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 new rust species and hosts from Northern Pakistan, Colletotrichum species associated with cultivated citrus in China and the identification and comparison of Botryosphaeriaceae species associated with dieback and stem-end rot of mango…
A Tale of Two Worlds: Favourable Projections, Looming Dearth
It is the best of times, it is the worst of times, it is the season of plenty, it is the season of famine – in short, it is that time when the positive medium term outlook for world agriculture is tempered by the “usual suspects.” For the fourth month running, the FAO Food Price…
Days are numbered for pests in Kenya’s irrigation schemes
Report by Peter Karanja and Abigail Rumsey Between May and July this year, 22 new plant clinics were established in Kenya. Nine of these clinics were launched by the Smallscale Horticulture Development Project (SHDP), which has been funded by the African Development Bank to help smallholder farmers increase the amount that they produce and earn…
Warming Climate Marches Pests and Pathogens Polewards
The distribution of plant pests and pathogens has been observed to be moving away from the equator towards the North and South poles and inhabit areas previously too cold for their existence. This threatens to increase the percentage of crops lost annually to pests and pathogens and subsequently raises major concerns over global food security. A…
Update: Plant Health News (11 Sep 13)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including using hot water to control Monilinia rots on peaches and nectarines, stem borers causing concern for Indian farmers and the use of new yield-improving technology being used by Ghanaian mango farmers. Click on the link to read more of the latest plant health…
IPPC and Plantwise Collaboration initiated with a Rome Secondment
As part of our recent efforts to improve collaboration on joint activities, CABI Plantwise is delighted to announce an agreement with the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) to initiate secondments between the two organizations, and thereby increase transparency and effectiveness. Katherine Cameron, Knowledge Bank Development Manager for Plantwise, has joined the IPPC secretariat at the FAO…