Tech4agri: the web series Ep 5 – Pests vs Diseases vs You

What would you do if a pest or disease infested your crop and you stood to lose 40 – 50% of your investment and future profits?

This episode answers just this question with farmers who are seeking or receiving help to combat their pest/disease problem. We found out that climate change plays a clear role in the prevalence of the issue but is this the only reason?

Watch the episode to find out more!

A major part of this episode features the efforts of the Plantwise program-  a global programme led by CABI, which works to help farmers lose less of what they grow to plant health problems.

Working closely with national agricultural advisory services they establish and support sustainable networks of plant clinics, run by trained plant doctors, where farmers can find practical plant health advice.

 

“Pest Tag on Agriculture”

Long since, has nano technology been just science fiction. The technology is in existence and has finally been incorporated into agricultural production. The Science and Development Network reports that Farmers in Africa are now radio tagging weevils which destroy banana, potatoes and soybean.

Not only have farmers been using alternate methods of pest control such as pheromone traps (using harmless chemicals which create a scent that attracts the pest and traps it) but they are now attempting to track this devastating pest to make better use of such alternative technology.

  

Photos Courtesy: Google Search

Fabrice Vinatier, lead author of the study in this research area, published in Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment this week (22 November), and a researcher at the Center for International Cooperation in Agronomic Research for Development, in Martinique, French West Indies. His team tagged banana weevil pests with radio frequency identification (RFID) which use radio waves to transfer data from the tag to a computer and allows tracking of the insects’ movements. (SciDev.net 2011)