PerĂş: Las clĂnicas de plantas en los periĂłdicos locales
En las Ăşltimas semanas, dos periĂłdicos peruvianos, Andina y Correo, han publicado artĂculos acerca de las clĂnicas de plantas Plantwise impulsadas por el Instituto Nacional de InnovaciĂłn Agraria (INIA) a travĂ©s de la Unidad de ExtensiĂłn Agraria de la EstaciĂłn Experimental Agraria Santa Ana. En 2015, mediante la red de clĂnicas de plantas establecidas en…
Climate-friendly rice wins 2015 Popular Science award
A new strain of low-methane rice has won Popular Science’s “Best of What’s New” award 2015 for engineering. The new kind of rice, known as SUSIBA2, has been developed by splicing a single gene from barley into rice plants to reduce the amount of methane the rice produces and, ultimately, the amount released into the…
Four new bee species described in Australia – many more remain unidentified
by Miroslav Djuric, DVM, CABI. Reblogged from CABI’s Hand Picked blog. Bee specialists from South Australia have described four new native bees. Three of these bee species have been described as  having narrow faces and very long mouths, allowing them to feed on slender flowers found on the emu bush, a hardy native of the…
Tackling pests and diseases in Trinidad and Tobago [Video]
The latest episode of the Tech4agri web series focuses on a number of farmers who attended Plantwise plant clinics in Trinidad and Tobago and received follow-up visits from Plantwise and NAMDEVCO extension workers. As CABI’s Naitram Ramnanan explains: “We decided to follow up by visiting the farmer in the field and then realised that it was a pervasive problem in the christophene-growing areas of the…
Update: Plant Health News (06 Jan 16)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including the invasive plants posing risk to food production in East Africa, a new tomato variety a hit with farmers in Australia and the use of botanical big data helping to predict how plant species will react to environmental change. Click on the link…
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…