Research collaboration in the fight against fall armyworm
On 1 July 2020, CABI, with support from the Action on Invasives programme, launched the Fall Armyworm Research Collaboration Portal. Developed with expert input from a number of organisations and universities, including CIMMYT, FAO, and the USDA, the portal has been created to enable sharing and collaboration between researchers working on fall armyworm (FAW). Registered users can post their research highlights and ask questions to the rest of the FAW research community. Now, six months after…
The power of negative results: paper on problems managing western corn rootworm among most downloaded in 2020
Negative results, such as the failure of detecting factorial effects, are often not published. This is due to humans’ positive test bias trying to prove rather to reject their hypothesis.
CABI research on desert locusts helps safeguard the food crops of millions
In 2019-2020, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), around 20 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda faced acute food insecurity due to swarms of desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria). In Kenya, the outbreak represented the worst locust crisis in 70 years; by its peak, the country was tackling over…
Working towards the formation of a Technical Working Group on Invasive Species in Kenya
A Technical Working Group (TWG) on Invasive Species in Kenya has been proposed to help the country tackle a range of crop pests – including the devastating Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) – which threaten livelihoods and local and national food security.
CABI and MARA scientists explore collaboration to find effective natural enemies for devastating Fall armyworm
Scientists representing the MARA China-CABI Joint Laboratory for Biosafety and MARA China-CABI European Laboratory have convened to discuss the very latest research efforts in a bid to find sustainable and effective natural enemies to fight the devastating Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda).
CABI trains provincial agriculture departments on biocontrol agents of fall armyworm and parthenium in Pakistan
Under its Action on Invasives (AoI) programme CABI in Pakistan organized two training sessions for rearing biocontrol agents to manage fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) and parthenium (Parthenium hysterophorus) in December, 2020.
Invasives Blog Most Read 2020
As 2020 draws to a close, we have crunched the numbers and pulled together the most read articles on the Invasives Blog this year. Plus some firm favourites. Invasive species like Himalayan balsam, fall armyworm, and Tuta absoluta proved to be popular topics for our readers this year. CABI’s work in biological control around the…
A life in science born of investigations into natural enemy for noxious ragweed
A former PhD student co-supervised by CABI’s Dr Urs Schaffner is forging a career as a qualified scientist working at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) after investigating a natural enemy for common ragweed.
Two-way SMS platform offers farmers timely management advice for fall armyworm in Kenya
This article was originally published on the PRISE website During the 2019 short rains season in Kenya, PRISE partnered with Precision Agriculture for Development (PAD) to provide maize farmers with timely pest management information on Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda). By building on PAD’s existing messaging service, which is run in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, the two-way…
The whimsical world of weeds: what’s in a name?
Invasive plants are everywhere – not just in our domestic gardens but on a grander scale on the grasslands of Kenya and Ethiopia as well as the Great Plains in the United States and Canada, including the world-famous Rocky Mountains.