Kamla Bai charts her journey of empowerment from farmworker to women village trainer for CABI
This is the story of Kamla Bai who has been a Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) farmworker since 2015. Mrs Bai belongs to a minority Hindu community and lives in a small village of district Mirpur Khas in Pakistan. She received her education to Matric level (10th grade), graduated from high school, and has since been…
On Earth Day, how does landscape composition and pesticide use affect pollinators?
On Earth Day, we take a look at landscape composition and pesticide use. Landscape composition is an important area of research in agricultural science. Understanding the relationship between cropland and its surrounding natural habitats, for example, can help to shed light on issues such as fostering natural, non-chemical pest control and reducing the use of…
Mainstreaming the Moruga Hill Rice tradition to expand green value chains in Trinidad and Tobago
With Earth Day taking place on 22 April, CABI scientist, Naitram Ramnanan (IAS Coordinator and Regional Representative – Caribbean and Central America, CABI) takes a look at sustainable agriculture in Trinidad. With an ever growing global population, sustainable agriculture – or agroecology – has become an increasingly important area of study and work. Many landscapes…
Classifying agribusiness-based advisory services: benefits and challenges of different models
By: Dannie Romney, Global Director, Development Communication and Extension, CABI Agricultural extension and advisory services – services that offer technical advice to farmers – play an important role in delivering the knowledge and tools that farmers need to increase their crop yields, improve their food security and livelihoods, and build resilience against the difficulties they…
Keeping in touch: Digital technology and life in the time of Coronavirus
The development of digital technology has been rapid in recent decades as we step into the 5G/6G internet network generation. This technology has been particularly useful during the Covid-19 pandemic, when self-isolation and social distancing have been imposed on many people at different times. Various lockdowns have resulted in the increased use of digital means…
Data sharing standards for soil: Why aren’t they taking root?
The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic has put food security squarely on the global agenda. Combined with the existing challenges that climate change brings to agriculture and agroecology, the production of ample and nutritious food is now under threat as farmers struggle with social distancing and income loss – writes Ruthie Musker, Project Officer –…
3 ways that preprints help researchers in agricultural and plant sciences
The use of preprints (pre-peer reviewed versions of scholarly papers) has accelerated in the last few years with many researchers now sharing their latest work with the scientific community before or in parallel to publication with a journal. After a slower start compared to other research fields, adoption of preprints in the plant sciences and…
Sustainable cotton production ‘through the eyes’ of a Better Cotton farmer
Mr Javed is a resident of the village Jameel Dall, union council Mir Imam Bux Talpur, in the district of Mirpur Khas in Pakistan. He has, since 2012, been one of the active farmers of CABI’s project to help improve cotton production which is run under the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI).
CABI helps build capacity of government stakeholders in Pakistan to tackle aflatoxins with biological controls
Aflatoxins are powerful fungal toxins that contaminate many agricultural products, including cereal grains, chilies, dry fruits and nuts. They also well affect milk because some livestock feed contains aflatoxin. In Pakistan, aflatoxin concentrations in harvested grain frequently exceed the level permitted in countries where aflatoxin in food and feed is regulated. The Aflatoxin Control in…
COVID vaccine: to jab or not to jab
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccination has been hailed as the light at the end of the tunnel. However, even though the UK is one of the top countries in the world for the number of vaccinations doses administered, there is mistrust and suspicion about the safety of the vaccine and the intentions…