CABI tracks down and destroys Asian hornet nest in Switzerland using radio telemetry technique
CABI scientist Dr Lukas Seehausen has successfully tracked down and killed the Asian hornet (Vespa velutina) and destroyed its nest in Le Noirmont, Switzerland, after closing the net on the predator using state-of-the-art radio telemetry technology. Dr Seehausen, who is based at CABI’s Swiss Centre in Delémont, Saidou Nacambo and…
CABI assesses opportunities and challenges of online learning at African universities’ webinar
CABI's Digital Learning Manager, Mark Berthelemy, joined a panel of experts as part of a webinar to assess the opportunities and challenges that African universities face with online learning in a post-COVID-19 environment. The webinar was organized by the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM), a network…
For when the chips are down – preserving UK soil microbial biodiversity for sustainable agriculture
Scientists from the UK’s foremost agricultural research institutes have teamed up to create a new UK Crop Microbiome Cryobank (UK-CMCB) to safeguard future research and facilitate the sustainable yield improvement of the UK’s six major food crops including barley, oats, oil seed rape, potato, sugar beet and wheat. CABI, who…
Scientists suggest global guidelines for sustainable use of non-native trees to protect worldwide biodiversity
A team of international scientists have collaborated to propose a series of global guidelines for the sustainable use of non-native tree species to help protect biodiversity and ecosystems around the world already threatened by climate change. The new paper, published today in the journal NeoBiota, uses the Council of Europe…
New report evaluates successes of CABI-led Plantwise and Action on Invasives programmes
An external evaluation report, recently commissioned by CABI on behalf of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has been published. The report describes the independent evaluation of the CABI-led Plantwise and Action on Invasives programmes that both aim at increasing agricultural production and farmers’ incomes impacted by crop pests and…
Taking to the ‘airwaves’ to help Kenya’s smallholder farmers fight back against devastating papaya mealybug
CABI’s experts in extension communications are literally taking to the ‘air waves’ having just launched a major radio campaign to help Kenya’s smallholder farmers fight back against the papaya mealybug pest which can devastate their crops. Stephanie Gakuo, Development Communications Specialist based at CABI’s Kenya centre in Nairobi, teamed up…
CABI shares expertise in Kew’s State of the World’s Plants and Fungi 2020 report
CABI scientists have shared their expertise, along with over 200 others researchers from around the world, as part of Royal Botanical Gardens Kew’s ‘State of the World’s Plants and Fungi 2020’ report released today (Wednesday 30 September). Dr Matthew Ryan, Curator of CABI’s Culture Collection, and Dr David Smith, Director,…
Genome of Fleming’s original penicillin-producing mould sequenced with help from CABI’s original strain
Researchers from Imperial College London, CABI and the University of Oxford have sequenced the genome of Alexander Fleming’s original Penicillium strain using samples that were frozen alive more than fifty years ago. Dr Matthew Ryan, Curator of the Genetic Resource Collection at CABI, shared his expertise and samples of Fleming’s…
New research highlights impact of COVID-19 on food security in Kenya and Uganda
CABI scientists have conducted new research highlighting the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on food security in Kenya and Uganda with more than two-thirds of those surveyed having experienced economic hardship due to the pandemic. Dr Monica Kansiime led a team of researchers who discovered, from a random sample of 442…
CABI collaborates with ASEAN Action Plan on Fall Armyworm Control and co-hosts webinar series
The ASEAN Action Plan on Fall Armyworm Control and CABI are working towards effective approaches to biocontrol of fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) in Southeast Asia with an informative three-part webinar series. The webinars, the first of which took place on 10 September, explore classical, biopesticide, augmentative and conservation-based biocontrol approaches…