Update: New Pest & Disease Records (04 Mar 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 new species of plant parasitic nematodes from tea plantations in Iran, the impact of fungicides and biocontrol agents in managing peduncle blight of tuberose caused by Lasiodiplodia theobromae, and aphid…
Factsheet of the month: March 2015 – Tomato yellow leaf curl management
A recent plant protection conference in Hanoi highlighted dangerous levels of pesticide use in agriculture in Vietnam. The head of Vietnam’s Plant Protection Department, Nguyen Xuan Hong, announced that a 5-year Integrated Pest Management (IPM) project had been approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. IPM will be important in reducing both costs to…
Plantwise coming to Milan Expo 2015
Over 500 million smallholder farmers worldwide provide food for two-thirds of the earth’s growing population. These farmers, and the major challenges they face due to crop health problems, will be the focus of a new interactive exhibit to be launched by the CABI-led Plantwise programme at the Swiss Pavilion during Expo Milano 2015. The universal…
Counting down to the 10th Session of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures
Contributed by Melanie Bateman, CABI Switzerland The 10th session of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures is fast approaching (16 to 20 March), and papers related to many of the items that will be under discussion have been made available on the website of the International Plant Protection Convention: https://www.ippc.int/core-activities/governance/cpm. For example, the draft International Standards…
Plantwise shortlisted for Olam Food Security Prize
The CABI-led Plantwise programme has been named as a finalist for the Olam Innovation in Food Security Award! This award ‘aims to recognize an outstanding innovation for its potential impact on the availability, affordability, accessibility or adequacy of food, as well as to support its further development.’ As a programme now working in 34 countries,…
The Hindu covers Plantwise activities in India
The National newspaper-The Hindu covers Plantwise efforts in India. Plant clinics are not only providing solutions to pest problems and are reducing the crop losses but also the farmers visiting them are realizing surplus harvests as compared to their fellow farmers. Farmers are relying upon these plant clinics for providing them guidance to distinguish the difference…
Update: Plant Health News (25 Feb 15)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including the Giant African land snails invading Cuba, the debate over GM bananas in Uganda and a new report from the World Food Programme on connecting farmers to markets. Click on the link to read more of the latest plant health news!
Tuta absoluta, a new invasive invading India
Tuta absoluta (commonly known as tomato leaf miner) is a devastating pest of tomato which originated from South America. It can breed between 10-12 generations a year and each female can lay upto 250-300 eggs in her life time. This pest has been very quickly crossing borders and devastating tomato production in both protected and open fields.…
Plantwise linking policy to practice
Contributed by Melanie Bateman, CABI Switzerland Quarantine, then and now During the 1400s, it is estimated that one third of Europe’s population died of the plague. In order to slow its spread, some cities adopted radical measures. For example, the Viscount of Reggio, Italy, decreed that anyone sick with the plague should be moved to…
Myanmar newspaper covers plant clinic opening
Click here to download: Agr Dep opens plant clinic in Myanmar-The Global New Light of Myanmar