Making the most of the knowledge bank: How to enhance your country’s content
Contributed by Léna Durocher-Granger and Kate Dey Are you perhaps a coffee expert, a research scientist, post-graduate student in crop management, an extension officer working at the Ministry of Agriculture? Would you like to contribute to the plant health system of your country, bring the Plantwise methodology to your institute, help us with the translation…
Plantwise at Comptoir Suisse 2016
Contributed by Julien Dougoud, CABI Switzerland Comptoir Suisse, one of French-speaking Switzerland’s most popular trade fairs, took place from 10th to 19th September in Lausanne. Over 106,000 visitors attended the fair, where about 450 exhibitors were presenting their goods and services to the Swiss public. The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) showcased some of…
Plantwise showcases open access Knowledge Bank at global open data summit
Last week, CABI and Plantwise representatives attended the GODAN Summit in New York, the largest event ever planned for open data in agriculture and nutrition. It brought together key stakeholders from around the world to consider how open data can help achieve Zero Hunger – one of the key Sustainable Development Goals (SDG2). Speaking at the…
Grand Challenges – inspiring next generation plant pathologists
Julie Flood, Phil Taylor and Claire Beverley attended the ‘Grand Challenges in Plant Pathology study group’ event at the Doctoral Training Centre, University of Oxford, 14-16 September. The event was the first of its kind, aiming to engage and inspire the next generation of plant pathologists. The event was sponsored by the British Society of…
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (21 Sep 16)
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 occurrence of stem canker on oilseed rape caused by Leptosphaeria biglobosa in Serbia, three new additions to the grass (Poaceae) flora of Manipur, India and a new record of…
Plantwise partners hone their pathology skills during UK training course
For the fourth successive year, CABI UK Centre staff in June ran a four day training course on Techniques in Plant Pathology. Through lectures, demonstrations and practical sessions, the course provided a comprehensive overview of methods used for diagnosing plant health problems and for isolating, culturing and identifying fungi, bacteria, nematodes, viruses and phytoplasmas as…
South American tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta, reported in Nepal for the first time
South American tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick), has been reported in a tomato farm for the first time in Nepal and the presence has been confirmed in five districts, Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Kavrepalanchowk and Dhading district. Studies carried out by the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) in May and June this year have identified…
Making the most of the knowledge bank: super searching
In the first post in this series about making the most of the Plantwise knowledge bank , we wrote about how to effectively search for content. I’m now here to tell you that we’d barely scratched the surface of smart searching! In this post we will delve further into effective searching, covering Boolean searches, word…
Myanmar Agricultural Extension adopts the Plantwise framework for its Plant Health System
by Kyin Kyin Win, Deputy National Plantwise Coordinator, Myanmar The Myanmar Plant Health System Strategy (MPHSS) was launched successfully in Nay Pyi Taw on 8th September 2016. It was officiated by H.E. Dr. Tun Win, the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MOALI), and was attended by key officials of MOALI including…
Farmer field schools to link with plant clinics in Nepal
Contributed by Vinod Pandit, CABI Nepal After a successful pilot phase in Nepal, with plant clinics in 45 districts reaching more than 5000 farmers, Plantwise is now looking to scale up and become sustainable by getting partners to commit resources to the programme. To maximise synergies with existing agricultural extension methods, partners have suggested linking…