Improving the livelihoods of smallholder maize farmers around the Mekong
After rice, maize is the most important crop in the Mekong Delta. Insects including the Asian corn borer are a major threat to production. Fear of crop losses, together with a lack of alternative measures, can result in overuse of pesticides – posing health risks to farmers, consumers and the agro-ecosystem. This project will establish local production of an affordable biological control agent, the parasitic wasp trichogramma, which kills the eggs of maize pests.
Remote sensing use for mapping Parthenium in Pakistan
It is projected that food demand will more than double by 2050 due to climate changes. Food security in Pakistan is particularly reliant on its ability to produce wheat and rice, however, an invasive species of weed, the “Famine Weed” (Parthenium hysterophorus), has been identified as a critical threat to agriculture and human prosperity in Pakistan.