Rallying around plant health in Jamaica
The Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), Research and Development Division (R&D) and Plant Quarantine Produce Inspection (PQPI) – all agencies of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries of Jamaica – teamed up with CABI Plantwise to prepare the first of a series of rallies on different plant health topics. A two-day workshop was…
New plant doctors trained in Pakistan
By Umair Safdar, CABI Pakistan Plant health is increasingly under threat from a range of abiotic factors – such as nutritional deficiencies, extremes in temperature, adverse soil pH, pollutants – as well as biotic factors such as fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes, insects and other animals. Diagnosing and managing these issues requires a new approach in…
Investing in smallholder farmers for a food-secure future
Smallholder farmers provide the vast majority of the world’s food supply, and ‘small-scale farming’ is the largest occupation group of economically active people, 43% of which are women. Approximately 2 billion of the world’s poorest live in households that depend on agriculture in some form for their livelihoods, whether this is for market or subsistence.…
CABI signs MoU with Agricultural Department Gilgit Baltistan to launch Plantwise programme
CABI has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Agriculture Department Gilgit Baltistan in Pakistan to launch the Plantwise programme in order to provide research-based advisory services to farmers. The agreement, which will deliver Plantwise plant clinic services, was signed by Dr Babar Bajwa, Regional Director – CABI Central and West Asia, and Mr Sajjad Haider…
Farmers Need Long-Term and Short-Term Solutions to Combat Fall Armyworm in Kenya
Reblogged from Farming First. From a distance, Wycliffe Ngoda’s two acres of shiny green maize crops look healthy and lush. But the tell-tale holes in the leaves and debris on the stems give away an increasingly dangerous secret hidden in more and more maize fields across Kenya and sub-Saharan Africa. The rampant Fall Armyworm caterpillar is…
Students learn Integrated Pest Management techniques in Beijing
CABI has held a five-day course on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to train post graduate students and young researchers on a range of pest management techniques including how to keep pests, diseases and weeds below levels that cause economic damage.
Una agropecuaria comprometida con la comunidad
La mayoría de los agricultores del municipio de San Lucas, región de Chuquisaca, Bolivia, son pequeños propietarios con áreas de hasta 2 ha por familia. El durazno tiene un papel central en la generación de ingresos. Durante el 2015, el gobierno municipal de San Lucas hizo un primer intento de abrir clínicas de plantas para…
CABI joins Koppert to reduce the reliance on chemical use in pest management in Kenya
CABI has initiated activities with Koppert Biological Systems to increase the fight against crop pests and diseases which threaten the food security and livelihoods of thousands of farmers and their families in Kenya. CABI has signed a collaboration agreement with Koppert to deliver more Plantwise plant doctor training in Kenya, with funding from the Koppert Foundation. This includes plans to…
How does communication and its technical content shape farmer responses to plant clinic advice?
A recent study led by CABI and published in International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, explores how communication and its technical content shape farmers’ response to advice delivered at plant clinics. How willing were farmers to accept or reject the technologies recommended at plant clinic consultations? And what were the reasons? The research was carried out…
Plant Doctors in Vietnam go digital
Plant clinics in Vietnam have received a major boost with the introduction of digital devices to facilitate the work of plant doctors. The use of tablets and smartphones has been proven to help plant doctors improve the quantity and quality of data generated from plant clinic operations. With improved ICTs, the captured data from plant…