Providing for bees in forest regeneration projects
Restoring pollinator populations should be prioritised for long-term effectiveness in forest restoration programmes According to the World Bank, 1.3 million km2 of forest was lost to human activities between 1990 and 2016, and deforestation rates have been increasing. With the threat of massive biodiversity losses and mounting evidence of the importance of forests in combatting climate change, efforts…
‘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.
Engaging women for food security through aflatoxin control in Pakistan
Women constitute 49 percent of Pakistan’s population and play an important role in agriculture development. They are not only thought of as labourers, but also play their part as active researchers, extension agents and entrepreneurs. Under the Aflatoxin Control in Pakistan programme, CABI teamed up with Rafhan Maize Products Co. Ltd and the National Agricultural…
Online learning in development
January 24th is the United Nations’ International Day of Education, a celebration of the role of education for peace and development. The Sustainable Development Goals are rightly driving many projects amongst the world’s poorer nations and people groups, and online learning is playing a part in a lot of these projects. In honour of Education…
Turning up the heat on a humble bug to help relieve allergy sufferers from dreaded ragweed
Ongoing research to find a biological control to help millions of allergy sufferers blighted by common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) is gaining momentum with the heat being turned up on the prospect of a humble bug – the leaf beetle (Ophraella communa) – presenting itself as a successful foe to reduce harmful ragweed pollen.
When you picture a farmer, are they a woman?
CABI has today published a briefing, Empowering female farmers – Gender responsive programming, which is an overview of gender inequality in agriculture, its challenges and impacts, and how CABI is working to address these through its projects and implementation now and in the future.
Sensitizing maize growers of Punjab on aflatoxin biocontrol to produce quality crops for their communities
Dr Sabyan Faris Honey, CABI, and Deborah Hamilton, USDA Farmers in the Punjab province of Pakistan produce 85% of maize not only for the purpose of helping to ensure local and regional food security but also for export to high end markets. Due to the presence of aflatoxin levels above permissible limits (20ppb) in maize…
CABI Blog Most Read 2019
As 2019 draws to a close, we have crunched the numbers and compiled the top 20 most read articles on the CABI Blog this year. Plus a few firm favourites. Articles by CABI Books authors proved popular this year, covering a wide range of topics from religious tourism, to science communications, and the visual system…
The Legume Alliance
Reblogged from N2Africa. Back in 2015, a group of like-minded organizations came together to explore the idea of forming an alliance to improve the information provided about improved legume techniques for farmers. The idea of this Legume Alliance was to test a new integrated approach to developing and sharing agricultural information. Farmers did not always…
If you love your wine, watch out for the spotted lanternfly!
By Dr Tim Haye, Head of Arthropod Biological Control, CABI In the past two decades, Europe and North America have unintentionally shared many invasive insect pests originating from Asia, including the spotted wing Drosophila (Drosophila suzukii), brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys), the box tree moth (Cydalima perspectalis) and Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica). As if…