Agriculture Pest News
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For Soybean Insect-Pest Management, There’s No Substitute for Scouting a Field, Says Researcher
The weather in the Mid-South region causes intense pest pressure for row-crop farmers. To maintain yields, farmers in this area must treat numerous insect pests, more so than farmers in other areas of the country, according to Mississippi Extension entomologist Angus Catchot, Ph.D. In a new Focus on Soybean webcast, Catchot outlines best-management practices to treat pests common to the region. ...
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HAL Project to Eradicate Fruit Fly in Western Australia
Western Australia could one day be fruit fly free with a new pilot program aiming to eradicate Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly) in the state's southwest horticulture precinct. Regarded as one of the major fruit and vegetable pests in the world, Medfly is worth more than $200 million per annum in damages caused to susceptible crops in Western Australia and market access restriction. The outcome ...
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Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Are Flying to the Farm
Aerial drones, a technology perhaps best known for helping hunt terrorists on the other side of the globe, may soon begin helping U.S. farmers monitor what's happening in their fields collecting agriculture data. In Georgia, a group of state and federal officials - along with members of industry and academia - has been working since 2009 to develop a drone that can save a farmer's time and ...
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Battle over genetically modified foods in Oregon
Unable to find a good solution to protecting their certified organic seed crops from potential contamination from genetically engineered crops, small organic farmers in this Oregon valley are appealing to a higher power: voters. They wanted to protect their crops from being cross-pollinated by genetically modified ones, and asked voters in two counties to ban the cultivation of GMOs - a move ...
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Assessing stressed crops from the sky
In Peru, the International Potato Center (CIP), Lima, uses drones to aerially assess crop performance under different stresses, such as pests, diseases, drought and frost — all of them widespread phenomena in the Andes, one area where CIP works. Having tested this technique, CIP submitted it to the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. Now they work together on using drones to assist in ...
By SciDev.Net
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Position paper Climate-smart agriculture
Climate change fundamentally shifts the agricultural development agenda. Changing temperature and precipitation, sea level rise, and the rising frequency of extreme climate events will significantly reduce global food production in this century unless action is taken. Major investments, private and public, will be needed. Adapting agriculture to climate change is necessary to achieve food ...
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Bats can help protect rice farms against pests
Bats that prey on a major rice pest in Thailand could save paddy harvests worth millions of dollars and help contribute to better food security, scientists say in a paper published in Biological Conservation in March. Using data from a previous study and their own field survey, the scientists came up with a value of the predation of the wrinkle-lipped bat (Tadarida plicata) on the white-backed ...
By SciDev.Net
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150th Harvest from World`s Longest-Running Continuous Rice Experiment
The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is marking the 150th harvest of its Long-Term Continuous Cropping Experiment (LTCCE), the world's longest-running rice research project. This living field laboratory offers humanity a firsthand glimpse into the wonders of how rice production can be sustained in a changing climate without adversely affecting the soil and the productivity of a rice ...
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Horticulture in Egypt one step closer to IPM (Integrated Pest Management)
Egypt is an important exporter of horticultural crops such as green beans, sweet pepper, tomatoes, strawberries and cucumbers. Markets are increasingly demanding concerning the residues of plant protection products (PPP’s). Import of horticultural products is regularly rejected because of high residue levels. To reduce this risk it is necessary that Egyptian growers apply less pesticides ...
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FAO and EU help Zimbabwe’s farmers expand productivity and commercialization
The European Union (EU), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Government of Zimbabwe have launched a major programme to assist poor smallholder farmers to boost production, productivity and engage in commercial agriculture through integrated farming approaches. The 4-year US$19 million (13.78 Million Euro) programme will be managed by FAO and will focus on ...
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New initiative enables Somali farmers to produce food assistance
For the first time, Somali farmers are turning themselves into suppliers of high-quality food assistance for their fellow Somali people. A new initiative backed by the European Union (EU), the government of Austria and two United Nations food security agencies has helped Somali farmers achieve this major agricultural breakthrough in a region of the country that was gripped by famine less than ...
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NRDC Petitions EPA to Save the Monarch Butterfly
Skyrocketing use of the weed-killer glyphosate, first marketed as “Roundup,” is devastating monarch butterfly populations, and new safeguards should be put in place immediately to save the iconic species from further decline, the Natural Resources Defense Council said today. In a petition filed with the Environmental Protection Agency, NRDC said current uses of glyphosate are causing ...
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EPA Grant Will Help Univ. of Vermont Research on Reducing Pesticide Risks for Bees
EPA recently awarded an agricultural grant for $131,758 to the University of Vermont for a project to develop and promote Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices to reduce the use of potentially harmful pesticides and lower risk to bees all while controlling pests and saving money. Specifically, the UVM project is designed to reduce pesticide use and improve pest control, while increasing ...
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FAO welcomes historic commitment to end hunger in Africa by 2025
FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva today welcomed a breakthrough commitment by African heads of state to end hunger on the continent by 2025. “This is the first time in history that African leaders have made such a strong pledge to eliminate hunger and it is also a show of confidence that, working together, we can win the fight against hunger in Africa in our ...
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NRDC: Urgent Herbicide Review Needed to Stem Monarch Butterfly Decline
Conservation experts in Mexico today announced that a record low number of monarch butterflies returned this year to their wintering grounds in the mountains of Mexico and their annual migration is at “serious risk of disappearing.” Monarchs, which migrate from Mexico across North America and back every year, have been in serious decline since the 1990s. Experts believe that the ...
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Ohio State Team Promotes Nature-based `ECO-farming`
A team of scientists and educators from Ohio State University’sCollege of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciencesnow spells farming with three extra letters. The group studies, demonstrates and teaches about what it calls “ECO-farming,” a new approach aimed at boosting a farm’s production and profits while shrinking its environmental footprint. “ECO-farming ...
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Farm machinery and sustainable agriculture must evolve together
Farm machines have revolutionized agriculture and reduced drudgery for millions of farm families and workers, but the machinery of tomorrow will have to do more than that – it will also have to contribute to agriculture that is environmentally sustainable. A new FAO book Mechanization for rural development, a review of patterns and progress from around the world, explores the inexorable ...
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Farm machinery and sustainable agriculture must evolve together
Farm machines have revolutionized agriculture and reduced drudgery for millions of farm families and workers, but the machinery of tomorrow will have to do more than that – it will also have to contribute to agriculture that is environmentally sustainable. A new FAO book Mechanization for rural development, a review of patterns and progress from around the world, explores the inexorable ...
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Senegal nears first victory in war on tsetse fly
A campaign against the tsetse fly, a pest that transmits a disease that devastates livestock, in the Niayes area near the capital Dakar has radically reduced the fly population and is paving the way for complete eradication. "Since the project started, there is already less disease. It has not only reduced the tsetse but also ticks, which cause lots of other diseases in the area. We have noticed ...
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EPA Awards Almost Half a Million in Funding to Three Universities for Projects to Reduce Pesticide Risk Including Risks to Bees
Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that Penn State University would be one of three recipients of agricultural grants for Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices to reduce the use of potentially harmful pesticides and lower risk to bees all while controlling pests and saving money. Penn State University will be receiving a grant for $159,632. " Protection of bee ...
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