scholarly journals Plantwise: A Knowledge and Intelligence Tool for Food Security through Crop Protection

2021 ◽  
pp. 231-248
Author(s):  
Claire Beverley ◽  
Manju Thakur
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Crop Protection ◽  
Food Prices ◽  
Plant Health ◽  
World Population ◽  
Simulation Games ◽  
Pests And Diseases ◽  
Digital Interventions ◽  
Management Advice

AbstractFood security continues to be significantly impacted by a growing world population, changing climate, increasing food prices and environmental burden. One of the key challenges in reducing crop losses due to pests and diseases is timely delivery of appropriate, actionable extension advice to farmers. Information and communication technology (ICT) has the potential to improve services that connect smallholder farmers to new resources and information, helping to build their knowledge and ultimately improve their livelihoods. Such ICT-driven services have seen rapid growth over the past few years, and CABI has been harnessing this technology in several programmes. This chapter provides insight into digital interventions of the global, CABI-led programme, Plantwise, which aims to assist stakeholders in developing countries to improve their plant health systems by strengthening linkages among all actors involved, so that they can prevent and manage pest outbreaks more effectively. An overview of digital interventions piloted and tested under the umbrella of the Plantwise programme is illustrated with selected case studies. Interventions include pest diagnosis and management advice delivered via a website, plant health data collection, using a customized mobile application, and educational simulation games for ongoing support.

scholarly journals Prototyping a Knowledge-Based System to Identify Botanical Extracts for Plant Health in Sub-Saharan Africa

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 896
Author(s):  
Pierre J. Silvie ◽  
Pierre Martin ◽  
Marianne Huchard ◽  
Priscilla Keip ◽  
Alain Gutierrez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Crop Protection ◽  
Plant Health ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Pest Species ◽  
Knowledge Based System ◽  
Pests And Diseases ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The One

Replacing synthetic pesticides and antimicrobials with plant-based extracts is a current alternative adopted by traditional and family farmers and many organic farming pioneers. A range of natural extracts are already being marketed for agricultural use, but many other plants are prepared and used empirically. A further range of plant species that could be effective in protecting different crops against pests and diseases in Africa could be culled from the large volume of knowledge available in the scientific literature. To meet this challenge, data on plant uses have been compiled in a knowledge base and a software prototype was developed to navigate this trove of information. The present paper introduces this so-called Knomana Knowledge-Based System, while providing outputs related to Spodoptera frugiperda and Tuta absoluta, two invasive insect species in Africa. In early October 2020, the knowledge base hosted data obtained from 342 documents. From these articles, 11,816 uses—experimental or applied by farmers—were identified in the plant health field. In total, 384 crop pest species are currently reported in the knowledge base, in addition to 1547 botanical species used for crop protection. Future prospects for applying this interdisciplinary output to applications under the One Health approach are presented.

scholarly journals Review of plant health clinics: a recent phenomenon for effective plant pests and diseases diagnosis

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 90-103
Author(s):  
Maanda Rambauli ◽  
Antwi ◽  
Mudau
Keyword(s):  
Management Strategy ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Plant Health ◽  
Plant Production ◽  
Health Clinic ◽  
Pests And Diseases ◽  
Plant Pests ◽  
Health Clinics ◽  
Basic Plant ◽  
Plant Clinics

Plant health clinic is a mechanism in which farmers are able to access basic plant healthcare and services from relevant authority in relation to infested or suspected infested plants and plant products for diagnostic purposes. Plant health clinic is an integral part of the plant health system which provides early pest diagnostic and advisory services to farmers. In this paper, it can be further defined as a basic plant healthcare rendered to farmers to enhance and improve plant production thereby diagnosing plant pests and diseases with the aim of employing appropriate pest management strategy. In many countries, plant health clinics operators are extension experts, plant doctors, inspectors and scientists within government and NGOs. Extension support in particular is critical in the operation of plant health clinics. The purpose of this paper is to provide a global overview of plant clinic as a recent ways of plant diseases diagnosis. This paper concluded that plant health clinics are valuable tools which need to be adopted by various countries for smallholder farmers to understand more about plant pests and diseases as well as management strategy. To the contrary, many countries are dependent on national diagnostic services as opposed to basic plant healthcare which is more accessible to the smallholders. This review paper further revealed that plant health clinics’ knowledge, awareness, accessibility and satisfaction of the smallholder farmers are very important. Plant clinics may not efficiently and effectively operate in the absence of the aforementioned aspects. Plant clinics were found to be the most efficient way to reach smallholder farmers for advice.  

scholarly journals Plant Disease Diagnostic Capabilities in Venezuela: Implications for Food Security

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edgloris Marys ◽  
Ligia Carolina Rosales
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Plant Disease ◽  
Crop Protection ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Rural Livelihoods ◽  
Plant Diseases ◽  
Humanitarian Crisis ◽  
Pests And Diseases ◽  
Protection Strategies ◽  
Diagnostic Capabilities

Venezuela is currently experiencing the most severe humanitarian crisis in the Americas of this century. Little food is being produced locally, despite the population's right to food. Plant disease outbreaks are causing substantial declines in major staple food and cash crops, and this impacts on rural livelihoods, and poses a significant and growing threat to the already complex food insecurity crisis in the country. Nonetheless, phytosanitary services and hence the control of plant pests and diseases have been substantially weakened over the recent years as a consequence of the collapse of the economy and the substantial deterioration of government services. Therefore, most of the pathogens associated with symptoms-causing diseases remain unidentified or uncharacterized, and no surveillance or crop protection strategies have been implemented. In this review, we address the country's issues and challenges in diagnosing, monitoring and managing plant diseases to restore national food security.

scholarly journals Sustainable Farming Practices: Knowledge and Practices of Smallholder Farmers in Bamenda Highlands, Cameroon

2021 ◽  
pp. 26-39
Author(s):  
Christian Tegha Kum ◽  
Aaron Suh Tening ◽  
Martin Ngwabie ◽  
Cornelius Tsamo
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Crop Rotation ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Crop Protection ◽  
Mineral Fertilizers ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Farming Practices ◽  
Sustainable Farming

Background: Climate change inflicts negative consequences on food production especially on smallholder farms needed to achieve food security. Sustainable farming techniques seem to be the bridge between climate change and food security. Aims: To evaluate knowledge and practices of sustainable agriculture within smallholder farmers in the Bamenda Highlands, by identifying methods of pest and disease control, soil preservation options, and their different tillage practices, i.e., conventional versus sustainable practices. Study Design: Using a questionnaire survey. Place of Study: Bamenda Highlands, Cameroon. Methodology: A sample of 175 smallholder farmers (25 from each of the seven administrative divisions) were questioned about their tillage, soil preservation, crop protection, and knowledge of sustainable farming practices. Data collected were analysed and summarised to obtain frequencies and percentages. Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was used to test for significant relationships between the pairs of variables (age, level of formal education, sex, some tillage and soil preservation practices). Results: Out of the 161 farmers who returned the answered questionnaire, 111(68.9%) agreed to have knowledge of sustainable farming but yet 158(98.1%) were still involved with conventional unsustainable practices such as tillage with the formation ridges, and 150(93.2%) used mineral fertilizers and pesticides. Crop rotation 102(64.2%), intercropping 110(68.3%), and legume integration 124(78.0%) were the most used sustainable farming practices. Sex (r=0.419, P=0.000), age (r=0.450, P=0.000), level of education (r=0.430, P=0.000), no till (r=0.19, P=0.016), crop rotation (r=0.158, P=0.040), and intercropping (r=0.227, P=0.045) all showed significant positive relationships with knowledge of sustainable farming at α=0.05. Conclusions: Sufficient knowledge and capacity development on sustainable farming may decrease usage of unsustainable farming practices, hence improving the adoption of sustainable farming practices.

The Role of Crop Protection in Sustainable Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Production to Alleviate Global Starvation Problem: An Overview

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tijjani Ahmadu ◽  
Adamu Abdullahi ◽  
Khairulmazmi Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Solanum Tuberosum L ◽  
Crop Protection ◽  
Population Expansion ◽  
Potato Production ◽  
Security Requirements ◽  
Yield Losses ◽  
Global Food Security ◽  
Pests And Diseases

Among food crops in terms of consumption, potato ranks fourth, most important and valuable crop worldwide in terms of production and area harvested after maize, wheat and rice. In the coming years, potato production must keep pace with global population expansion nutritiously and sustainably which can partially be achieved by reducing the yield losses caused by the destructive pest and disease activities to the crop. The challenge of 70–80% total microbial crop yield loss posed by pathogens must be addressed for sustainable potato production in order to properly alleviate the global starvation problem. Potato as a food security crop can help to achieve the four food security requirements: food availability, quality, accessibility and stability. Health benefits of potato have shown the presence of phytochemicals as well as resistant starch which serve as anticancer and antidiabetic. The role of potato in the global food security should not be over emphasized, hence in this chapter we want to give an overview on the global hunger and food security at present, and the role played by potato as a food security crop. In addition, potato yield losses caused by pests and diseases especially phytopathogens, their etiology and the role of crop protection in sustainable potato production to alleviate global starvation problem will be discussed.

scholarly journals Food Security

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 227
Author(s):  
Aparna Nayak
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Productivity Growth ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Green Revolution ◽  
Food Prices ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
World Population ◽  
Developing Regions

Global food security is one of the most unrelenting issues for humanity, and agricultural production is not sufficient in accomplishing this. However, earlier analyses of agricultural food production barely ever bring out the contrasts associated with economic development and different climatic zones. The world population is increasing day by day and climate change will be causing more extreme weather, higher temperatures and changed precipitation. The crop contributes about 20 % of the total dietary calories and proteins globally. There is 1% annual growth in food demand in the developing regions. The developing regions (including China and Central Asia) account for roughly 53 % of the total harvested area and 50 % of the production. Although, unmatched productivity growth from the Green Revolution since the 1960s dramatically transformed world food production, benefitting both producers and consumers through low production costs and low food prices. One of the key challenges today is to replace today’s food system with new ones for better sustainability. While the Green Revolution freed essential ecosystems from conversion to agriculture, it also created its own ecological problems. Moreover productivity increase is now slow or stagnant. Attaining the productivity gains needed to ensure food security will therefore require more than a repeat performance of the Green Revolution of the past. Future demand will need to be achieved through sustainable intensification that combines better crop resistance plants, adaptation to warmer climates, and less use of water, fuel, fertilizer, and labor. Meeting these challenges will require concerted efforts in research and innovation to develop and set up feasible solutions. Necessary investment will be required to realize sustainable productivity growth through better technologies and policy and institutional innovations that facilitate farmer adoption and adaptation. The persistent lessons from the Green Revolution and the recent efforts for sustainable escalation of food systems in South Asia and other developing nations will definitely providing useful insights for the future.

scholarly journals Plant Clinic Towards Plant Health and Food Security

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 193-203
Author(s):  
Mahendra P. Srivastava
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Health Management ◽  
Insect Pests ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Plant Health ◽  
Health Clinic ◽  
Pests And Diseases ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Adequate Food

Ever-growing population, climatic changes and unprecedented losses due to pests and diseases pose serious threat to food security. Precisely food security implies availability of adequate food to everyone in all times to come. Food and Agriculture Organization of united Nations (FAO) defines “food security” as a state of affairs where all people at all times have access to safe and nutritious food to maintain healthy and active life. Food is one of the three basic needs of man, without which his survival is at stake. Plants constitute the basic source of food and as such, plant health management is crucial to food security, which is jeopardized due to unprecedented threat by large number of insect-pests, diseases, weeds and several edaphic and environmental stresses. Srivastava (2008, 2009) has very well highlighted the importance of plant heath security through phytomedicines/pesticides and plant health clinic in order to prevent 40 per cent losses occurring from field to fork globally. Due to unabated rise in population, reduction in arable land will be an ongoing process, hence we may have to strive hard to grow more food from limited land employing innovative strategies and more importantly adopting multipronged initiative and timely diagnostic and management strategies from plant health clinic to combat attack from pests and environmental stress, manage plant health mitigate losses.

Armyworm outbreak will become lasting African problem

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Food Security ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Fall Armyworm ◽  
The United States ◽  
Food Prices ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Pests And Diseases ◽  
Chemical Pesticides

Significance The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss the ongoing threat of fall armyworm (FAW) in Southern Africa. FAW wreaks havoc in the maize (corn)-growing countries of the Americas, where it originates. It was first detected in West Africa in January 2016, and in just 13 months, armyworms have spread to at least eight countries in Southern Africa. This includes the top four maize-producing countries, precipitating a likely food security crisis. Impacts Food prices will increase owing to a maize shortage in the region. Imports of maize from Brazil and the United States will raise phytosanitary risks of more invasive crop pests and diseases. Despite FAW being genetically resistant to many chemical pesticides, imports into Africa will increase.

scholarly journals   Food crisis, food production and poverty

2012 ◽  
Vol 58 (No. 3) ◽  
pp. 119-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Š. Grófová ◽  
K. Srnec
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Food Prices ◽  
Main Step ◽  
World Population ◽  
Vulnerability To Poverty ◽  
The World ◽  
Energy Trade ◽  
Economic And Social Impacts

There is a sufficient global potential to produce the food required to feed the world population on the global level. Despite this, the number of hungry people worldwide was 925 million in 2010. Developing countries account for 98% of the world undernourished people and have a prevalence of undernourishment of 16%. Food security increasingly depends on non-agricultural factors like energy, trade and finance. The negative economic and social impacts of food, energy and the global economic and financial crises showed the vulnerability to poverty. High and rising food prices further undermined the food security and threatened the livelihoods of the most vulnerable by decreasing their already limited purchasing power. The main step in reducing poverty and hunger in developing countries is to invest in agriculture and rural development. Scaled-up investments in social protection that focus on nutrition and health are also crucial for improving the lives of the poorest people.  

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