PlantwisePlus India: challenges and opportunities
Agriculture forms the backbone of India’s economy, employing nearly 44% of the workforce. However, farmers in the country face many challenges, not only pests and diseases, which destroy up to 40% of crops. Outbreaks, such as the locust swarms of 2020 and, more recently taro caterpillar in Madhya Pradesh, can affect food security, national security and human health.
Pesticides in tea: How can we manage tea pests more naturally, avoiding harmful chemicals?
On International Tea Day, we look at how we can reduce pesticides in tea. Tea is the second most widely consumed beverage in the world, after water. It’s estimated that people drink around three billion cups every day. But tea plantations are under threat from pests, and farmers must find effective ways to stop them.…
Taro caterpillar outbreak in central India
The Taro caterpillar (Spodoptera litura), is a pest of many crops across Asia and Oceania. This species is generally well-controlled by natural enemies. Therefore, outbreaks in India’s Madhya Pradesh over the past two years are particularly notable.
Better Cotton Initiative: biocontrol training in India
India is the world’s largest producer of cotton. It is one of the country’s major cash crops with nearly 6 million farmers making a living from growing cotton. The Better Cotton Initiative helps make cotton farming a more climate-resilient, environmentally friendly and responsible business. Working with smallholders, farm workers and communities, the Better Cotton Initiative…
How Plantwise plant clinics supported a women-led cottage industry in India
In 2003, twelve women in Chokkalingam Puddur village started a local biocontrol agent production unit. The Ellya Thendral women self-help group produced and marketed five different types of fungal biopesticides. Their cottage industry received a boost when a Plantwise plant clinic was established in their village. CABI’s Plantwise programme partnered with M S Swaminathan Research…
Plant doctors help in fight against crop threats in Jammu, India
The role Plantwise plant doctors play in helping smallholder farmers mitigate crop losses due to pests and diseases has been lauded by K.K. Sharma – the Director of Agricultural Production & Welfare Department in Jammu, India.
Webinar discusses sustainable management of fall armyworm
A webinar was hosted by the Department of Agriculture Production and Farmers Welfare, Jammu and CABI to promote the sustainable management of Fall armyworm (spodoptera frugiperda). The informative webinar explored how this invasive pest can be monitored and managed in the maize growing regions of Jammu, Northern India.
New ePlant clinics to help the most remote farmers in Northern India
Plantwise ePlant clinics have opened in a further five districts of Jammu province in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. With its mountainous landscape, these districts are often inaccessible to public service providers. To make information available to farmers, the Department of Agriculture, Jammu (DAJ) in collaboration with CABI, has established a network of…
Inclusive advisory services enable the women of Thirumalairayasamuthiram village in India to better manage their farms
Women play a significant and crucial role in agricultural production. An economic survey carried out it 2017-18, indicates that with growing rural to urban migration by men, there is a ‘feminization’ of the agriculture sector, with an increasing number of women in multiple roles as cultivators, entrepreneurs, and labourers. Globally, there is empirical evidence that women have…
Asian Farmers Consult Vibrant E-Plant Clinic Network In Pandemic Times
This article was originally published on aesa – Agricultural Extension in South Asia E-Plant clinics are meeting places where local agricultural advisory officers, known as plant doctors, help farmers struggling with plant pests and diseases. During the COVID-19 pandemic, plant clinics continued to provide advisory services to farmers by going online. Malvika Chaudhary shares her…