Safeguarding poultry and livestock feed from harmful aflatoxins/mycotoxins

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by molds and fungi in fields and during the storage of grains, feeds and forages. Exposure of mycotoxins occurs more frequently in tropical countries because of high temperature, moisture, and unseasonal rains. Mycotoxins are considered to be soil-borne pathogens. The problems caused by mycotoxicosis tend to fall into three general…
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Connecting with food systems: Research, knowledge and eco-environment approaches

Indian market
Today’s world faces immense challenges in food production, making availability, quality, nutrition and affordability the main agenda in many developing countries, writes Dr Babar E Bajwa, Regional Director, CABI Central West Asia. Agricultural research has moved on from the task of ensuring availability of food towards attaining a successful food system that is perceived as…
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Making a case for safer ways to fight rice pests in the Greater Mekong

Rice is big business in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) in Southeast Asia—not only as a vital source of food but also as a crop that provides work and income for 80 percent of the population. However, despite positive developments in the last decade, millions of tons are still being lost to pests, diseases, and…
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AflaPak is on its way for maize growers to detain the toxic fungi in spring crop

Man in field
In Pakistan maize crop of the spring season is more likely to be contaminated with the exposure of aflatoxin due to the favourable conditions; temperature (75.2-109 °F) and of relative humidity (62-99%) during the crop life cycle. To minimize the level of aflatoxin each country/region has its own version of non-toxigenic strains growing naturally in…
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Enjoy two weeks free access to CABI’s Crop Pest Diagnosis online course

CABI Academy
CABI is providing two weeks free access to its Crop Pest Diagnosis online course to encourage knowledge expansion on healthy plants – supporting students and plant health specialists during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.
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AflaPak registration will pave the way to enhance the livelihoods of maize growers in Pakistan

Pakistan has taken the regional lead to mitigate the aflatoxin issue in South Asia. USAID/USDA has joined hands with CAB I to lead this new initiative in collaboration with the National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) and Rafhan Maize Products Co. Ltd. This will help to safeguard the health and nutrition of Pakistan people.
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CABI scientist defends PhD thesis on risks of pest and disease movement via plant and seed exchanges

CABI scientist Dr Iva Franić has successfully defended her PhD thesis looking at the risks of pest and disease movement via plant and seed exchanges. Dr Franić, co-supervised by Dr René Eschen, Research Scientist, Ecosystems Management, and Risk Analysis and Invasion Ecology at CABI, obtained her PhD degree from the University of Bern in Switzerland,…
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Coronavirus and the Implications for Food Systems and Policy

Food policy
In this blog, which originally appeared on the Agrilinks website, we take a look at the potential for COVID-19 to impact local and global food systems and their ability to provide safe, affordable, and nutritious food as well as sufficient incomes for people working in food and agriculture sectors. We thank the authors Billy Hall,…
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World Water Day: “We must mobilise all available resources”

Ismahane Elouafi,
To mark UN World Water Day on Sunday (22 March 2020) we share this article written by CABI Board Member Dr Ismahane Elouafi – originally published on the Rural 21 website – who, in her position as Director General of the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), makes a case for more research on alternative…
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Why we chose Moodle for the CABI Academy

CABI Academy
For those that don’t yet know, the CABI Academy is our programme to create a growing curriculum of educational resources and activities. These will cover a wide range of topics – to reflect CABI’s existing areas of work, such as agriculture, plant science and tourism, Mark Berthelemy writes. The aim is to provide materials that…
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