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.…
Integrated rodent management: rice production
Rodents are a particularly challenging pest in the rice production industry as they are a problem all the way from sowing to harvest. The rice field rat (Rattus argentiventer) causes average losses of 10-20% in rice growing areas. Ranking as the most important non-weed pest in Indonesia for 15 years up until 2000. Integrated Pest…
Integrated pest management (IPM): managing crops with natural solutions
This article was originally published on the CABI BioProtection Portal blog. Visit the original blog post here. Integrated pest management (IPM) is an environmentally friendly approach to managing crops. “IPM is the careful consideration of all available pest control techniques”, the FAO describes on its website. Integrated pest management includes implementing various biological, chemical, physical and crop specific (cultural) techniques. This…
Meet Chheng, a farmer from Cambodia using natural methods to control pests
In a new video, Plantwise follows Chheng Sok Khim, a farmer growing vegetables in Kandal province, Cambodia. Ms Khim struggled to control the pests on her farm and turned to chemical pesticides, but this ended up costing her more money and negatively affected her yields and her health.
Plantwise programme launching in Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan
Focussing on the main objective and vision of the Department of Agriculture (DOA) Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJ&K), regular discussions between CABI’s Country Coordinator for Plantwise in Pakistan, and the DOA led to a formal agreement which officially endorsed plant clinics in three divisions of AJ&K.
Integrated pest management practices bring more than $12 billion to the developing world
This article was originally published by Virginia Tech Daily The implementation of integrated pest management strategies is improving livelihoods and bringing billions of dollars in economic benefits to developing nations. That’s according to findings of a review published recently by Virginia Tech researchers George Norton, Muni Muniappan, and Jeff Alwang and researcher Menale Kassie from…