CEOs need to accelerate their action plans to safeguard the production of commodities critical to the global population and economy as heat stress and drought risk rise around the world, according to PwC's report, Climate Risks to Nine Key Commodities: Protecting People and Prosperity, published. The report, which analysed nine …
A disaster is looming in Zimbabwe following a severe drought that has left most of the planted maize crop for the current season either moisture-stressed or being declared a write-off. Drives along the country’s major highways often show sorry sights of wilted maize as the El Nino induced drought which …
Scientists from an international maize research organization said Thursday that a deadly maize disease that has ravaged farms across eastern Africa since 2011 has been contained. Boddupalli Prasanna, director of global maize program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, said the maize lethal necrosis disease (MLN) is under …
A study was conducted to identify the new invasive pest infesting maize in Gujarat, India. During the survey conducted in the month of September 2018, sweet corn field in the Anklav village of Anand district found infested with new invasive pest. Larvae were collected and brought to the laboratory of …
Selecting optimal host plants is critical for herbivorous insects, such as fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), an important maize pest in the Americas and Africa. Fall armyworm larvae are presumed to have limited mobility, hence female moths are presumed to be largely responsible for selecting hosts. We addressed host selection by …
The fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda is a prime noctuid pest of maize on the American continents where it has remained confined despite occasional interceptions by European quarantine services in recent years. The pest has currently become a new invasive species in West and Central Africa where outbreaks were recorded for …
As the world population swells, the inequitable distribution of food around the globe is prompting profound moral questions. Is the unequal distribution of food in rich and poor countries, for instance, merely a consequence of geography, with rich countries having more fertile lands? Or are food shortages in some countries …
Biological control provided by natural enemies play an important role in integrated pest management. Generalist insect predators provide an important biological service in the regulation of agricultural insect pests. Our goal is to understand the explicit process of oviposition preference, habitat selection and feeding behavior of predators in farmland ecosystem …
With increasing Internet user rates across Africa, there is considerable interest in exploring new, online data sources. Particularly, search engine metadata, i.e. data representing the contemporaneous online-interest in a specific topic, has gained considerable interest, due to its potential to extract a near real-time online signal about the current interest …
Government has come to the rescue of farmers in Manicaland by providing pesticides to control the outbreak of the African armyworm which has so far damaged four hectares of maize. About 40 hectares of cereal crops and another 40 hectares of grazing land are under threat at Arda Transsau. Manicaland …
Farmers in Bunyangabu district will soon benefit from a sh43b irrigation scheme in to be constructed in Rwimi sub-county by government this financial year. Adolf Mwesige, the minister for defence and Bunyangabu County Member of Parliament, during a farmer’s field day on Saturday at Rwimi sub-county, said that the irrigation …
Kenyan farmers are gearing up for the commercialization of biotech crops in order to boost yields, officials said on Monday. Daniel Magondu, chairman of the Society for Biotech Farmers of Kenya (SOBIFAK), said in Nairobi that productivity in key crops such as cotton and maize is declining due to challenges …
Zimbabwe is reportedly now "food secure" and is likely not going to import maize as farmers have delivered over 1 million tons to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) after a "successful Command Agriculture Programme". According to the state-owned Herald newspaper, GMB officials said they expected at least 1.2 million tons …
Global food security must address the dual challenges of closing yield gaps (i.e., actual vs. potential yield) while improving environmental sustainability. Nutrient balance is essential for achieving global food security. Historical (in distinct “Eras” from late 1800s to 2012) and geographical (in United States vs. remainder of World) changes in …
Improved storage techniques have shown they can cut the loss of harvested maize by 10 percent in Tanzania, and help one-third fewer households go hungry in the lean season, Swiss researchers said. As Africa's population rises and climate change threatens more harvests, simple efforts to protect what is harvested could …
A caterpillar native to the Americas that has devastated crops across Africa has made its way to Asia, scientists in India said Thursday, warning of a threat to food security. Scientists at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research said a survey had identified fall armyworm or Spodoptera frugiperda on more …
Evidence continues to mount that foodborne illness imposes a staggering health burden in developing countries. However, standard approaches used by developed country governments to ensure food safety are not appropriate in settings where regulatory enforcement capacity is weak and most firms are small and informal. Thus, interventions to improve food …
Current crop yields could provide nutritious food for the projected 2050 global population, but only if we make radical changes to our dietary choices, a new study shows. Researchers from Lancaster University have analysed global and regional food supplies to reveal the flows of calories, protein and vital micro-nutrients from …
The estimate for Argentina’s drought-hit corn crop may be cut further from the 32 million tonnes currently expected to be harvested this season, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange and the country’s main farmers group said on Thursday. FILE PHOTO: Farmer Bernardo Romano stands in a corn field in a drought-affected …
Benin is located on the Guinean coast of West Africa and has a mixed tropical and sub-equatorial climate with two rainy seasons. Beninoise farmers practice mixed rain-fed crop and livestock farming. Climate change puts the country at risk of food insecurity. Since the 1960s the mean average temperature has increased …
