A workshop has been held at the Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University (ZAFU) in Hangzhou, Eastern China, to raise awareness of the Plantwise plant doctor programme which trains extension workers to diagnose and help farmers manage a range of crop pests and diseases.
The meeting was primarily aimed at raising awareness among university students, private businesses and plant protection experts for participation in a plant doctor training and its certificate – presented to students who successfully complete the course.
About 70 participants were present including around 30 undergraduate and graduate students. It also helped to lay the bases for potential collaboration between ZAFU, CABI and an agri-business company affiliated to the China Wisdom City Working Committee (CCIT).
The idea is to create a student course in ZAFU that would lead to a plant doctor certificate, therefore increasing students chances to find a job or to create their own agri-businesses. The six to seven day course will be jointly developed and will comprise Plantwise’s training modules on field diagnosis and pest management. It will also include ZAFU’s modules on local key pest diagnosis, on locally adapted integrated pest management methods and on Chinese agri-policy and pesticide legislation, as well as CCITs module on agri-business development.
During the plant doctor awareness workshop, CABI scientists Drs Feng Zhang, Min Wan and Stefan Toepfer introduced the Plantwise plant clinic model, the related trainings, and provided a state of the art global overview on Integrated Pest Management (IPM).
Workshops were also led or presentations given by Dr Yang Puyun, from the National Agricultural Technology Extension and Service Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture, China (NATESC MoA), Dr Chen Julian from the Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (IPP-CAAS), Mr Zheng Yongli from Zhejiang Provincial Plant Protection Bureau, Prof Jin Peihua and Prof Zhu Zhujun of ZAFU.
Dr Toepfer and colleagues from CABI were interviewed by the Zhejiang TV news channel (CZTV) at the workshop. Find out more here.
Action on Invasives
This week CABI launched its Action on Invasives programme to improve the farming for 50 million poor households by tackling invasive species. For more information on the programme and CABI’s work on invasive species, please visit: www.invasive-species.org
About Plantwise
Plantwise is a global programme, led by CABI, to increase food security and improve rural livelihoods by reducing crop losses. Working in close partnership with relevant actors, Plantwise strengthens national plant health systems from within, enabling countries to provide farmers with the knowledge they need to lose less and feed more.
The programme is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID); the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC); the European Commission DG DEVCO (Europe Aid); the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Netherlands (DGIS); Irish Aid; the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR); and the Minsitry of Agriculture of the People’s Republic of China.
For more information please visit: www.plantwise.org
CABI in China
Find out more about CABI’s work in China here.
CABI in Switzerland
Find out more about CABI’s work in Switzerland here.
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