BioSpace: Using space-enabled remote sensing for long term sustainable growth of biopesticide use
Pests and diseases cause significant losses of crops around the world and are a significant threat to food security. In China and Laos, locusts affect over two million hectares of agricultural land and recently, the fall armyworm is becoming prevalent in China and Southeast Asia, already affecting 35,000 hectares of…
Rwanda Soil Information Services (RwaSIS)
70% of Rwanda’s population rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. However, productivity has been severely compromised by a lack of crop and soil-specific fertilizers and soil erosion. Real-time, reliable, soil and agronomy data can inform farmers, helping them to make the best decisions for their land, but this data is…
Biological control against the invasive Comstock mealybug in the Swiss orchards
A new invasive pest of particular concern to Switzerland’s orchard industry is the Comstock mealybug, Pseudococcus comstocki. Originating from Asia, the Comstock mealybug was first detected in 2016 in fruit crops of the Swiss canton of Valais. Following its detection, the mealybug has caused significant local economic damage to apricot,…
Digital innovation to protect Colombian coffee farms and farmers
The coffee berry borer (CBB) is the most serious coffee pest worldwide, causing crop damage in excess of $US500 million, annually. In Colombia, 75% of coffee crops are affected by this pest. It directly damages coffee beans, destroying their taste and making them unsaleable. To exacerbate the problem, climate change…
Increasing safe and efficient trade of agriculture in East Africa
The East African Community (EAC) represents one of the fastest-growing regional economic communities in the world. However, trade of agricultural products, from and within this region, has been hindered by factors including Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) issues. The project aims to assess the SPS systems and frameworks, identify challenges and…
Stepping up the fight against devastating potato diseases in Kenya
CABI is working in partnership to step up the fight against a range of devastating potato diseases which are threatening to decimate the yields of nearly a million smallholder farmers in Kenya. Dr Joseph Mulema, Senior Scientist, Research – who is based at CABI’s centre in Nairobi, is leading a…