Fields trials on biological control of aflatoxins on red chilies to ensure safer crops
CABI in Pakistan is leading a project to help provide a biological control solution for combatting aflatoxin issues prevailing in red chillies grown in Sindh, Pakistan.
Aflatoxin control in Pakistan through the eyes of a maize grower from Punjab
Mian Muhammad Irfan is a maize grower from district Faisalabad in Punjab province. Here Rafhan Maize Products Co. Ltd procures thousands of tons of maize crop each year for processing. He is one of the thousands of maize crop farmers contracted with Rafhan Maize. Mr Irfan grows around one hundred acres of maize annually. Over…
Aflatoxin control in Pakistan – promising developments to reduce aflatoxin problem in maize crop
Aflatoxin Control in Pakistan is a game changer initiative for the country’s maize industry. Maize growers adopt cultural practices, such as the drying of maize cobs on concrete grounds and delaying the harvesting to reduce moisture on the standing crop.
Building work starts on Pakistan’s first commercial facility to produce a biocontrol product for maize
Rafhan Maize Products Co. Ltd has begun building an AflaPakTM dedicated laboratory and production facility in Faisalabad which will be the first commercial facility in Pakistan for manufacturing a biocontrol product for the country’s maize sector.
Registration of biocontrol products for the agricultural sector in Pakistan moves a step closer
CABI, with the financial assistance of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United States Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA-FAS), and technical assistance from IR-4 project, is helping Pakistan move a step closer towards the registration of biocontrol products to fight a range of crop pests and diseases which can…
As a diamond cuts a diamond, ‘good fungus’ will reduce ‘bad fungus’ in maize crop
CABI, along with its partners Rafhan Maize Products Co. Ltd and with the support of the National Agricultural Research Centre (CDRI, ASI), are busy evaluating the efficacy of AflaPak™ in Pakistan – a biological control agent/product for outcompeting the strains of aflatoxin producing Aspergillus flavus in maize.
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…
AflaPak is on its way for maize growers to detain the toxic fungi in spring crop
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…
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.
Cotton industry stakeholders from Punjab familiarized on aflatoxin management through ‘green’ technology
Aflatoxin contamination in food, feed, and agricultural produce is a matter of concern around the world because of their carcinogenic, metabolic, mutagenic, immunosuppressive, and teratogenic effects. Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) is the monohydroxylated derivative of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), developed in the liver of lactating animals during metabolism and further excreted into the raw milk of cattle…