Plant Doctors facebook group – new innovation by Plantwise Bangladesh
Contributed by Malvika Chaudhary CABI Bangladesh and Madeleine Kaufmann CABI Switzerland We would like to share with you a new innovation by Plantwise Bangladesh. They lately created a “Plant Doctor Facebook Group” having two purposes. On the one hand plant doctors can communicate with each other sharing and exchange information and experience on plant pests…
Factsheet of the month: July 2015 – Prevention of powdery mildew on mango using cultural methods
The use of pesticides in Ethiopia has been increasing in recent years but it is thought that due to a lack of training and awareness, these chemicals are often being used unsafely and excessively. Many groups in Ethiopia are therefore raising awareness of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in which control methods are selected based on…
Developing skills for kitchen gardeners in the Punjab
Contributed by Madeleine Kaufmann, CABI Switzerland, with information from CABI Pakistan. https://vimeo.com/132439159 Agriculture is the mainstay of Pakistan’s economy. It engages nearly half of the country’s workforce and accounts for over 20% of GDP. Together with agro-based products, agriculture contributes 80% of the country’s total export earnings. But despite the economic importance of agriculture, many…
Update: Plant Health News (01 Jul 15)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including a reduction in banana yield in the Philippines due to the effects of El Niño on rainfall, a pest causing severe damage to tomato production in Nigeria and the use of pheromones to control insect pests in the field. Click on the…
Expo visitors discover the plant clinic experience in Milan
For 3 minutes, you, too, can experience how smallholder farmers in over 30 countries receive the practical plant health advice they need to save their crops. This was the message shared with visitors of the live plant clinic session hosted by Plantwise at the Swiss Pavilion, Milan Expo on June 25. Plant clinics are one…
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (24 Jun 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 the tomato russet mite in northern Chile, Cytospora species associated with walnut canker disease in China, and globalisation, the founder effect, hybrid Phytophthora species and rapid…
Introducing APHLIS: The African Postharvet Losses Information System
Plantwise have recently been investigating APHLIS data, a great source of information on postharvest losses in Sub-Saharan Africa. The system is run by a network of local experts who collect and supply data. Using a shared database and a Losses Calculator APHLIS provide estimates of weight losses for cereal grains at a national and provincial…
Update: Plant Health News (17 Jun 15)
Contributed by Fiona Bunn Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including the development of a new App in Kenya to help farmers select climate-smart seeds to maximise production, the use of drones to boost banana grower’s productivity in Columbia and new findings about how greening disease wreaks havoc in…
Increased carbon dioxide levels in air restrict plants’ ability to absorb nutrients
Contributed by Fiona Bunn A recent study from the University of Gothenburg has shown that plants that are grown in air with a higher percentage of carbon dioxide (CO2) have reduced levels of nitrogen in their tissue, causing increased nitrogen deficiency and reduced growth. The study was conducted across four continents in large scale projects,…
Key decisions regarding pesticides at the Conferences of Parties of the Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions
Contributed by Melanie Bateman, CABI Switzerland In May, the Conferences of Parties of the Rotterdam, Basel and Stockholm Conventions (Triple COPs) met in Geneva, Switzerland. These are the three major international conventions dealing with chemicals and hazardous waste at a global level, and one thing that they do is to list chemicals which the international…