Crops, forest products, pest control
Crop pests and diseases
Research reports for "plant pathology"
Crop pests and diseases
Research reports for "plant pathology"
- Quick, accurate tests identify plant diseases
Easy-to-use test kits now help laboratory staff in developing countries diagnose diseases rapidly. The traditional tests are expensive and time-consuming. This means that diseases, such as bacterial wilt in potato, groundnut and tomato, and leaf spot in banana, are often not correctly detected, or not detected in time. So, crop losses from these diseases in Africa and Asia are devastating. Now, laboratories in Mauritius, Malaysia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Trinidad use cost-effective kits to detect these diseases quickly and accurately. The design of the kits takes into account the often poor conditions in these laboratories. The tests have great potential for certifying crops for export and import, as well for meeting food safety standards. Many plant pathology laboratories around the world have already asked for them. (Ref: CPP79) - Bean farmers go with the information flow
Smallholder farmers throughout East and Central Africa are benefiting from new, integrated strategies to protect their bean crops. The methods are particularly beneficial to women, who are the principal bean growers. Control options include pest-tolerant, high-yielding varieties, fertilisers and weed control. The key to success is the use of a participatory approach that builds on indigenous knowledge to generate interest among farmers. Each group and community selects its preferred dissemination methods from a range of options, including media (radio, newspapers, TV, video), promotional materials (extension posters and leaflets, group reports), and traditional communication methods (word of mouth, drama, poems and songs). (Ref: CPP08) - Imported fungi help farmers defend themselves against invasive weeds
A rust fungus collected in Trinidad and Peru is helping to control Mikania micrantha in southwest and northeast India. Previously, this invasive (‘mile-a-minute’) weed smothered vegetation over vast areas of tropical forests. Smallholder farmers can now fight back using biological control methods. The Indian Government provided a national framework for the project and sponsored public awareness activities to promote understanding of the control technology. Indian scientists and extension workers received training and are now undertaking on-going monitoring programmes. The rust fungus is being mass-produced in specially built facilities for wide release on the continent. Scientists in China, Fiji, Taiwan and Papua New Guinea are also using the technique, and many other countries have expressed interest. (Ref: CPP06) - Farmers control bean root rot with a blend of science and indigenous knowledge
African farmers - and women farmers in particular -are using a wide range of integrated management options to protect against bean root rot. Researchers and partners in Uganda, Kenya, Malawi and South Africa are using manuals describing new tools, methods and techniques, and Village Information Centres are helping community members to access appropriate information and technologies. Participatory rural appraisals and surveys of indigenous technical knowledge were combined with sophisticated screening, selection and diagnostic techniques to come up the management components, which are specially designed for use in south-western Uganda, as well as in areas with similar conditions. (Ref: CPP09) - Insect visitors are made to feel unwelcome in banana crops
Farmers are controlling a major banana disease, Xanthomonas wilt, by preventing the entry of insects that carry a bacterium (Xcm) that causes the disease. Removing male buds from the plants is one solution. Another is the destruction of infected plants to keep them from continuing to attract insects. Finally, by opting for banana varieties in which the male flower cushions have a natural protective covering farmers make their crops inaccessible to the insect vectors. These findings were made possible thanks to the identification of an improved medium for isolating Xcm from insects, soil and plants. The new control techniques are being promoted in Kenya, DR Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda using participatory methods. (Ref: CPP18) - Kale seed multiplication schemes take off in Kenya
Smallholders in Kenya are producing healthy, good quality kale seed thanks to a new model for sustainable multiplication. The first step was to establish the primary virus diseases responsible for crop loss. Then, researchers identified and compared new, improved varieties with resistance to the major threats to farmer varieties. They also surveyed farmer preferences to determine their preferred multiplication methods. The new model, together with a scheme for improved seed certification, has reached more than 1000 farmers, NGOs and micro-entrepreneurs. Multiplication plots are providing large batches of seed and farmers have been set up as seed producers in remote zones. (Ref: CPP11)
Crop pests and diseases
