CABI contributes to special issue on weed biological control with arthropods in ‘Current Opinion in Insect Science’
CABI scientists have joined an international team of researchers as part of a Special Issue of the journal Current Opinion in Insect Science which focuses on the present status and potential future directions of weed biological control using arthropods. Dr Urs Schaffner from CABI’s centre in Switzerland and Prof. Heinz…
Help CABI count the cost of invasive alien species to Africa
CABI is calling on a range of organisations working in agriculture to help them count the economic cost of a multitude of invasive alien species (IAS) – such as the Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) and tomato leaf miner (Tuta absoluta) – to Africa by taking part in a major new…
CABI launches new agriRxiv, the dedicated agricultural preprint service for agricultural research
agriRxiv - pronounced agri-archive, and previously known as AgriXiv – is to be relaunched with a new website offering researchers and students access to preprints across agriculture and allied sciences. Preprints are drafts of research articles that authors typically share with the wider community for feedback before submitting their final…
CABI-led Africa Soil Health Consortium helps over a million farmers grow more and better crops
Farmers discussing the effectiveness of banana print material during a pre-test activity in Tanzania The CABI-led Africa Soil Health Consortium (ASHC) has reached more than 1.3 million smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, helping them to grow more and better crops. Improved information is critical to increase…
PRISE pays dividends with farmers in Kenya heeding vital pest risk advice
Sixty percent of farmers who took part in a pilot SMS service run by Pest Risk Information Service (PRISE) and Precision Agriculture for Development (PAD) in Kenya have heeded vital pest risk advice to help protect their crops from devasting insects such as the Fall armyworm (FAW) which is already…
MARA China-CABI Joint Lab comes into strategic focus amid COVID-19 pandemic
Steering Committee (SC) members of the MARA China-CABI Joint Laboratory for Biosafety and MARA China-CABI European Laboratory have met to review the laboratories’ achievements over the past year as well as set out strategic plans for 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Representatives of the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural…
CABI signs open letter to UN, G-20 and national governments on food security amid COVID-19
CABI CEO Dr Trevor Nicholls has been one of the first to put his name, on behalf of the organisation, to an open letter on COVID-19 and agriculture for food and nutrition security addressed to the United Nations (UN), G-20 and national governments. The letter, that has also been signed…
Farmers and fishermen believe livelihoods would be enhanced by removal of semiaquatic weed
Farmers and fishermen living along the Kafue River floodplains in Zambia believe that removal of the invasive semiaquatic weed Mimosa pigra would ‘considerably enhance’ their livelihoods, according to new research undertaken by CABI scientists and published in Austral Ecology. Dr Arne Witt, based at CABI’s centre in Nairobi, Kenya, led…
Biocontrol is most cost-effective strategy in fight against common pest pear Opuntia stricta
The cochineal Dactylopius opuntiae ‘stricta’ biotype is more effective as a sustainable biocontrol in the fight against the invasive common pest pear Opuntia stricta in Laikipia County, Kenya, compared to physical and/or chemical control – CABI scientists can now reveal. Dr Arne Witt, based at CABI’s centre in Nairobi, led…
‘Alien’ plants do not adversely impact native tree species in Tanzania’s Amani Botanical Garden
CABI scientists have collaborated on new research which reveals that a range of invasive plants studied do not have a negative impact upon the seed germination, seedling survival or seedling communities of native trees in the Amani Botanical Garden (ABG) in Tanzania. Dr René Eschen and Dr Urs Schaffner joined…