Factsheet of the month: January 2016 – Blast in Paddy
Scientists from the University of Delaware, USA, have recently uncovered critical information about the effect that deadly rice blast fungus has on rice plants, which could lead to more effective effective control measures in the fight against this disease. The team found that Magnaporthe grisea, the fungus responsible for rice blast, causes an increase in…
Tackling climate change and agriculture at COP21 – a look at the landscape approach
by Dr Trevor Nicholls, CEO, CABI At COP21 last week, the world’s leaders agreed on a way forward to manage climate change. Limiting global warming to less than two percent was undoubtedly a landmark decision and, for the first time, there was unanimous recognition that humans impact the climate and that humans must do something about…
Seasonal Factsheet: Christmas tree pests
In time for the holiday season, we’re providing you with vital information about the pests you may have inadvertently brought into your home with your real Christmas tree. While some of them may become active after being exposed to the warm temperatures inside, we should stress that none of these visitors are a threat to…
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (23 Dec 15)
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 Tomato leaf curl Gujarat virus showing leaf curl symptoms on cotton in Pakistan, the first report of Alternaria alternata causing leaf blight of onion in South Africa…
Climate smart agriculture [Video]
Speaking to Climate Change TV at the recent COP21 Climate Conference, CABI’s Dr Janny Vos stressed the impact of climate change on agriculture, especially for the world’s 500 million smallholder farmers. She focused on the balance that must be found to help smallholders become climate smart farmers while, at the same time, being able to grow enough produce to…
CABI calls for support for farmers at COP21
This month, world leaders gathered in Paris to agree a new deal on climate change. CABI delegates attended this historic COP21 Climate Conference, raising awareness about agriculture and the environment, and the challenges facing the world’s rural communities and smallholder farmers. We share some of the highlights of CABI’s participation in the event. On 8…
Update: Plant Health News (16 Dec 15)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including typhoons and greening disease hitting China citrus crops, avocado exports threatened by phytosanitary problems in Mexico and the World Food Programme working to connect smallholder farmers to markets. Click on the link to read more of the latest plant health news!
Plantwise celebrates helping farmers with more than 150,000 plant health queries
Plantwise is thrilled to announce over 150 000 records of visits by farmers to plant clinics have now been stored on the secure part of the Knowledge Bank site, the Plantwise Online Management System (POMS). Plant doctors are diagnosing pests and diseases and providing recommendations to help farmers reduce crop losses.
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (09 Dec 15)
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 Pyricularia oryzae affecting barley crops in Corrientes, Argentina, the incidence of cereal cyst nematodes in the East Anatolia region of Turkey and new aphid records for Saudi Arabia.
Plant doctors share their experience of e-plant clinics
Plantwise held an e-plant clinics review workshop on September 8th-9th in Machakos, Kenya. This workshop brought together the 30 plant doctors who, with funds from Dow AgroSciences, are now equipped with tablets and have been running e-plant clinics since their training in June 2015. The plant doctors are using the tablets in their clinics to…