Preparing for a pandemic
Now is not the ideal time to be giving Health Emergency Preparedness and Response its first reading. Co-edited by Chloe Sellwood, NHS England’s National Lead for Pandemic Influenza (for which read: any serious infectious disease), the idea for this book sprang up during the 2009-10 Swine Flu pandemic, and came to fruition following the 2014-15…
Butterflies and climate change
This article was originally posted on Ray Cannon’s Nature Notes. We have heard a great deal about climate change in the last year, with protests by Extinction Rebellion activists in London and the incredible teenager, Greta Thunberg reading the riot act to delegates at the UN, condemning world leaders for failing to act on global…
Five, four, three, two, one – blast off! Students keep their eyes on the radiosonde launch at the Kenya Meteorology Department, Nairobi
Around 250 students from the University of Nairobi, Manguo Secondary School and Visa Oshwal Primary School were part of a 400-strong crowd that gathered to witness the launch of a radiosonde packed with gadgetry as part of the UK Space Agency-funded* CABI-led Pest Risk Information Service (PRISE). The students literally had their eyes on the…
Pesticide Management Bill 2020 dawns a new era of sustainable agriculture in India
India is among the leading producers of pesticides in Asia. The Insecticides Act 1968 was brought into force with effect from August 1971 with a view of regulating the import, manufacture, sale, transport, distribution and use of insecticides in order to prevent risk to human beings and animals, Dr Malvika Chaudhary writes. The Central Insecticides…
Workshop focuses on creating healthy ‘data ecosystems’ to boost food security in India
CABI has been funded a two-year US$1.49 million project by the Gates Foundation to help increase food security in India and Ethiopia through better access to data on soil health, agronomy and fertilizers. This is being carried out with a focus to ensure that available data on agricultural development is based upon FAIR principles–Findable, Accessible,…
Farmers learn advanced nursery raising techniques to strengthen Pakistan’s vegetable value chains
Onion and chilli farmers from villages in Pakistan’s Sindh province have come together to learn best practices of vegetable nursery raising as part of the CABI-led Strengthening Vegetable Value Chains Project (SVVCP) project funded by the Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research (ACIAR). The farmers from Ibrahim Shah and Khari Mohammad of district Tando Allahyar…
Secrets of ‘military mould’ unearthed after being hidden for over 75 years
Just a day before the plan for the invasion of France – known famously as ‘Operation Overlord’ – was confirmed on 8 February 1944, the now defunct Ministry of Supply (MoS) convened a conference on the prevention of mould growth of which CABI was privy to its information deemed ‘secret.’
First biological control laboratory created in Pakistan to research poisonous aflatoxins
The first biological control laboratory to research poisonous aflatoxins has been created in Pakistan as part of a collaboration between CABI and the Crop Diseases Research Institute (CDRI) at the nation’s National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC). The facility, under the Aflatoxin Control Programme in Pakistan, aims to ensure the state of food security in the…
Mystery Organs of the Stick Insects: Solving A Century-Old Anatomical Puzzle
One would think that scientists had already figured out everything there is to know about animal anatomy, considering how long we have been dissecting and describing. However, several mysteries from the past remain unsolved, either because they were forgotten or because more advanced methods were needed to figure them out.
‘Sowing the seeds’ for organic cotton in Pakistan
CABI, under its Cotton Advocacy for Policy and Seed (CAPAS) Project with funding from the C&A Foundation, is making good progress to support the procurement, production and certification of non-GMO cotton seed as well as the development of organic cotton policy in Pakistan.