With 2018 drawing to a close we take a look at the most popular articles on the Plantwise blog this year, along with some firm favourites.
Plantwise Knowledge Bank
Plantwise Photoguides
The Plantwise training for plant doctors (Module 1: Field diagnostics and plant clinic operation) is unique in that it is the only international training that focuses on field diagnosis and uses live plant samples in the learning process. The training takes advantage of the fact that many of the symptoms caused by the different groups of pathogens are often similar irrespective of the host plant. The training has been widely praised by those just starting a career in field diagnostics as well as those trained to PhD levels as it is rare that the symptoms are laid out in this way.
Making the most of the knowledge bank: top tools and information
Welcome to the third in our series on making the most of the knowledge bank. This time we turn our attention to a section of the knowledge bank which contains a huge amount of valuable information but that is all too often overlooked – the Links to useful information and tools. This is which is where you’ll find all the key links to information about crop protection. Importantly, the links page is specific to each country or region, so all the information on the page will be relevant to your location.
Continue reading
Making the most of the knowledge bank: begin booklet building!
In the latest on our series on making the most of the Plantwise knowledge bank, we turn our focus to the Booklet Builder which lets you compile a custom set of Plantwise factsheets and Pest Management Decision Guides (PMDGs) into one booklet, or create a booklet of content written in your country at the click of a button.
The booklet builder works like an online shopping cart, and is found in the same place you’d expect to see a cart – in the top right corner. The number in brackets shows how many items you’ve added, just like an internet shop, but in the booklet builder, all items are free! Here, we explain how to create your booklet in 3 easy steps. Continue reading
Pest management advice in person, in print, on mobile…what next?
If you take a look at a Plantwise pest management decision guide (PMDG) on the Knowledge Bank, it probably won’t look much different to how it looked before. However, under the covers, this PDF has been created in a completely different way to before. This is because we are now storing each part of the PMDG factsheet in a database. This approach to storing content, previously implemented for Plantwise’s Factsheets for Farmers, is being extended for our other content types with the PMDGs being the latest significant addition. It has exciting implications for how pest management advice can be disseminated. Now we are not just limited to what can be provided on paper – the factsheets can be used in web or mobile applications (such as the Plantwise factsheets app), and could be mashed up with other content or data to add further value to the information. Continue reading
Plantwise on BBC Radio tomorrow
Tune in tomorrow at 3pm GMT to BBC Oxford Radio for an interview with Plantwise knowledge bank‘s Holly Wright talking about her experiences in Kenya piloting the new Plantwise Factsheet Library Mobile App. She will be joined by the app’s developer, White October Director Chris Jones.
Black Sigatoka Ravages Caribbean
Caribbean banana farmers are abandoning fields where crops have been badly affected by Black Sigatoka disease. Black Sigatoka has badly affected several countries in the region, including Dominica, St. Lucia, Grenada and Guyana. Black Sigatoka is considered the most destructive disease of bananas and plantains and is caused by the fungus Mycosphaerella fijiensis. It first arrived in the Caribbean in 1991, and has since established and spread throughout the region. Severely infected leaves die, significantly reducing fruit yield and causing mixed and premature ripening of banana bunches. As part of the response to Black Sigatoka outbreaks in the Caribbean the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) provided an intensive training programme in management of the disease in Dominica back in June this year. The workshop trained technicians from Dominica, St. Lucia, Grenada, Guyana and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The Caribbean’s tropical climate with high rainfall and high humidity is conducive to the spread of Black Sigatoka, hence the training program focused on the management of the disease, including the strategic and careful use of fungicides in order to manage the disease while aiming to prevent fungicide resistance developing. Last year, FAO provided an expert from Cuba to assess the management efforts of each country in the Caribbean affected by the disease, and identify areas for improvement. For each country, a management and action plan was created in conjunction with the CARICOM Secretariat, the OECS Secretariat, the Caribbean Agricultural Research & Development Institute (CARDI), Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA), CIRAD, the Ministry of Food Production in Trinidad & Tobago and the Banana Board of Jamaica.
There are factsheets available on Black Sigatoka and it’s management on the Plantwise Knowledge Bank, with factsheets in French, Spanish and English. Click here to see them.
References:
‘FAO supporting battle against dreaded banana disease’, Dominica News Online, June 2013
‘FAO supporting battle against Black Sigatoka’, St Lucia Mirror Online, June 2013
‘St Vincent and the Grenadines: Banana farmers ‘abandoning fields’’, BBC News, August 2013
