Plantwise plant clinics start up in China

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A pilot scheme of Plantwise clinics has started in China. Huanhuan Wan and Caroline Scotter-Mainprize report on the success of the first clinic session in Southwest China. China’s first Plantwise plant clinic was successfully established in Rongjiang town, Xing’an county, Guangxi province, Southwest China on 19 May 2012. A great number of local farmers arrived…
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Plantwise launched in Uganda

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Plantwise has officially been launched in Uganda as of 16th April 2012. The ceremony was held at Nkokonjeru in Buikwe district central Uganda and was attended by over 300 people made up of Plantwise plant doctors local dignitaries and farmers who have been helped by the local plant clinic. The honoured guests were the local…
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Plantwise launched in Barbados

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The Plantwise program was launched at the Bajan Agrofest that took place at the end of February near Bridgetown. The agrofest is an annual event that this year attracted over 60,000 people, this is approximately 25% of the island population.  Working with the Dept of Crop Protection (Ministry of Agriculture) a plant clinic was run…
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Down the pan

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How about I start this week’s blog with a question……what is the common link between the newly-constructed toilet block in Kithimu market place and Maize streak virus (MSV)?
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Clustering to make a difference

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Claire Beverley from the Plantwise knowledge bank has been visiting Kenya, find out what she has been up to in her latest blog post! ———————————————————————————————————————————————————- I imagine there are few sights as breath-taking as the Rift Valley, so on Thursday I was pleased that we stopped for a few minutes on our way to Nakuru.…
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Shouting out about plant clinics

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Plantwise works with in-country agencies to set up plant clinics, which farmers can attend with a sample of their affected crops to obtain a diagnosis and treatment advice. Plant clinics are often run in larger towns or villages, and farmers can travel many miles to talk to a plant doctor to solve their crop problems.…
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Increasing Food Security and Empowering Women

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Efforts to help developing countries increase their food security and to empower women should be considered together as both are dependent on one another. The FAO has said that if women had the same resource access in agriculture as men then food output in developing countries would increase by enough to pull 100-150 million people…
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Do you like your coffee wilted?

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According to CABI’s Peter Baker at the recent ISEAL Conference the International coffee community may be failing farmers in providing them with support in adapting to upcoming climate risks. Changes in the climate can have dire consequences for farmers within developing countries. They can change the distribution ranges of insect pests, causing pests to migrate into…
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New global plant health resource to improve food security

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From the devastating Coffee Wilt Disease to the infectious Wheat Stripe Rust: for the first time ever, distribution maps, diagnostic support and treatment advice for thousands of the world’s most damaging pests and diseases of plants and crops are being made available free of charge on the new Plantwise website, www.plantwise.org, launched today. The Plantwise…
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Call for support for sustainable smallholder agriculture

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Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), last week called for a dramatic increase in support for sustainable agriculture, including smallholder farmers, as a way to drive green growth and reduce poverty. This is…
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