From Islamabad to Egham: Sharing quarantine best practice to fight Parthenium weed in Pakistan
Biocontrol Research Officer Dr Kazam Ali from Islamabad has undergone an intensive week-long quarantine management course delivered by CABI colleagues in Egham, UK, as part of a joint focus on fighting the highly invasive and destructive Parthenium weed in Pakistan. Dr Ali, who works at a new quarantine facility built to create greater capacity for…
Food Gardening in the Anthropocene
By Daniela Soleri, University of California, David A Cleveland, University of California, Steven E Smith, University of Arizona In early September 2017, the fall equinox was approaching, and things were different in our garden. The heat-loving basil plants that should have been slowing down as the days shorten and cooler weather usually arrives, were showing…
Food for thought: Fungal biological resources to support international development – challenges and opportunities
At first glance it might be hard to see how the exploitation of microbes, especially fungi, can have the power to help humanity meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), feed the world’s growing population and improve the bioeconomies of poorer nations. But a team of international scientists from CABI, the Westerdijk Institute and the…
The Science of Communicating Science: The Ultimate Guide, by Dr Craig Cormick
By Rachel Winks, CABI The Science of Communicating Science: The Ultimate Guide by Dr Craig Cormick, published this month jointly by CABI and CSIRO, is a book that helps to solve a major problem that many scientists face at some point in their career: how do I communicate my work to society? How do I…
CAB Reviews hits 1000 articles with fall armyworm paper
Allan Hruska of the Food and Agriculture Organization has examined published studies to see which management options are most likely to help smallholders tackle the devastating crop pest fall armyworm
Remembering Anthony Johnston – former Director Commonwealth Mycological Institute
By Dr David Smith, Director Biological Resources at CABI It was sad to hear of the passing of Anthony Johnston, a plant pathologist and former Director of the Commonwealth Mycological Institute (CMI) 1968-1983. He is fondly remembered by his colleagues, some of whom are still working at CAB International (originally CAB – Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux) which…
Improving disease resistance in Kenyan crops
By Dr Charlotte Nellis, (NIAB EMR, UK) It is estimated that globally two billion people suffer from deficiencies in essential vitamins and nutrients, termed ‘hidden hunger’. Sub-Saharan Africa has a number of countries that have high levels of hidden hunger, including Kenya, which is ranked 2nd and 17th worst in Africa and the world, respectively.…
The history of cultivating citrus
By L Gene Albrigo Citrus is one of the most important exported fruit crops. Large plantings in countries bordering latitudes 20 south and north and in-between provide fresh and processed citrus for the more populated northern European and American countries as well as other large populations around the world. Citrus has also been a cultivated…
New podcast from SciDev.Net focuses on cholera in Cameroon and measles in Democratic Republic of Congo
As part of a series of podcasts funded by the Wellcome Trust and hosted by SciDev.Net Sylvie Akoussan looks at the cholera epidemic in northern Cameroon before shifting her attention to measles in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Her report, in French, asks important questions about the quality of tap water in Africa and whether this…
CABI hands over Phytosanitary Risk Management Programme (PRMP) to provincial stakeholders in Pakistan
By Umair Safdar, Communication Development Executive, CABI Central and West Asia (CABI CWA), Rawalpindi CABI in Pakistan implemented a USAID/USDA funded project ‘Phytosanitary Risk Management Programme in Pakistan (PRMP)‘ from 2014 to 2019. CABI’s scientific team upgraded the infrastructure at the relevant provincial agricultural departments and strengthened the capacity of Pakistan’s current agricultural system so…