Where next for fall armyworm?
Since its confirmed arrival in Nigeria in 2016, the fall armyworm has conquered almost 25.5 million square kilometres of Sub-Saharan Africa, reaching as far east as Ethiopia, and as far south as South Africa. Now fall armyworm has reached beyond African shores and was recently confirmed in India, with CABI warning of its now impending…
Giant Hogweed: Biology, Impacts and Management
Edited by Corin Pratt and Marion Seier. Giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) is a monocarpic perennial herb, native to the Caucasus region. Since the late 1800s, giant hogweed has spread extensively across Europe and in eastern and western parts of North America following its likely initial introduction to the continent as an ornamental curiosity as early…
Scientists debate how best to tackle invasive plants across Europe
Some of the world’s leading scientists in the field of alien invasive plants are to debate how best to tackle the scourge of a range of alien invasive plants – some of whose pollen can cause severe irritation in humans and threaten native ecosystems.
Using DNA to detect a stinkbug invasion
The use of DNA to detect a stinkbug invasion proposes a revolutionary advancement in agricultural pest surveillance following the success recorded on a piloted experiment conducted on farms in the USA. These interlopers attack all manner of produce, ranging from fruits to leafy vegetables. However, the adoption of DNA techniques in detecting its early invasion…
Fall armyworm’s spread to India making headlines around the world
Earlier this month, CABI warned of the impending rapid spread of fall armyworm across Asia, following its arrival in India. Since then, news of the crop-destroying pest’s invasion has been hitting headlines across the globe.
CABI warns of rapid spread of crop-devastating fall armyworm across Asia
CABI scientists have today warned of the impending rapid spread of the crop-devastating pest, fall armyworm, across Asia following its arrival in India, with major crop losses expected unless urgent action is taken. The warning comes following a pest alert published this week by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) on the website of one of…
CABI works in partnership to help rid UNESCO Natural World Heritage site Socotra of common pest pear Opuntia stricta
Invasive species experts from CABI have been working in partnership with a range of international organisations, including more than 200 members of a local community and a musical band, to help get rid of the common pest pear Opuntia stricta from the Socotra Archipelago, Yemen.
Why Prosopis no longer ‘pays’ as a prospect for positive environmental and socio-economic productivity
In the late 1970s and early 1980s the group of closely-related woody plant species and hybrids known as Prosopis were seen as a ‘saviour’ for millions of pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in East Africa whose very livelihoods were threatened by the degradation of dryland ecosystems spurred on by overgrazing, and by deforestation and a shortage of…