Update: Plant Health News (24 Oct 12)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including reports of Aster yellows infecting 60% of Canadian Canola, the identification of a recent maize virus in Kenya and the development of dual disease resistant Cassava. Click on the link to read more of the latest plant health news!
Plant Pest Interactions: How Soybean Aphids Trick Soybean Plant Defences
Following on from a previous blog on the interactions between soybean plants and soybean pests, new research on soybean (Glycine max) responses to the soybean aphid (Aphis glycines) published in Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions has revealed some of the complex and fascinating interactions between pests and their plant hosts. This recent research led by Dr Gustavo Macintosh and…
World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue 2012 highlights the real people affected by global food security issues
By Daniel O’Hara This year’s World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue concluded on Friday with a breakfast address from the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, highlighting the importance of food security to global prosperity. The Secretary General’s attendance was an indicator of the importance of food security on the international agenda. He summed up the conference…
Plantwise plant clinic at the Nairobi International Trade Fair
by Kimani Chege and Abigail Rumsey Plant clinics have been running in Kenya since 2010. There are currently 35 clinics throughout Kenya, to which farmers can bring their crops and receive a diagnosis of the pest or disease that is causing them problems. These clinics are organized and run by the Ministry of Agriculture extension…
The Model Plant
Charis Cook works for GARNet, a BBSRC-sponsored network that supports plant scientists in the UK by, among other things, linking researchers to each other and to the research councils, and providing an information hub for plant scientists. GARNet also has its own blog. Before working for GARNet, Charis was at Royal Holloway, University of London,…
The Soybean Gene: Scientists Discover the Key to Nematode Resistant Soybeans
Soybean (Glycine max) is an important crop that provides a sustainable source of protein and oil worldwide in countries such as the USA, Brazil, Argentina, India and many African countries, including Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda. The soybean cyst nematode Heterodera glycines is a microscopic roundworm that feeds on the roots of soybean and is…
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (17 Oct 12)
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 a new record of the whitefly Acaudaleyrodes rachipora attacking clusterbean in India, detection of algal leaf spot in citrus in Paraná state and a novel mastrevirus infecting wheat in India.
CABI at the World Food Prize
Today, the 16th October, is World Food Day. In today’s context of rising food insecurity, the timing could not be more fitting. This week global agricultural leaders will gather in Des Moines, Iowa for the World Food Prize & The Borlaug Dialogue. The World Food Prize will be awarded on Thursday 18th October to Dr.…
Fungi just as effective as pesticides at controlling crop pest
Researchers at Swansea University have found a strain of fungi that could replace harmful pesticides in the control of the European crane fly (Tipula paludosa). The effects of 17 strains of entomopathogenic fungi, chlorpyrifos-based pesticides and a nematode worm were compared. The pesticides and fungal strain V1005 Metarhizium robertsii were both found to be 100%…
Get more scientific and international development news on CABI’s Facebook page!
CABI has just launched its Facebook page. In addition to posts from Plantwise, there will be news and articles from the other arms of CABI including Global Health, Environmental Impact, Animal Science, Forest Science, and newly published books and journals. There will also be updates from the work that CABI is doing in countries all…