Time and time again you visit farmers’ fields following complaints or issues that you hear through dealers, seed production or trials staff to find that the whole crop is lost, not just for the first time but for the second or even third time. Farmers who are experienced seed producers would never produce seed for […]
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Syngenta-Monsanto sale/merger?
The Syngenta-Monsanto “reality show” continues, but what is seen in public is obviously not what is happening behind the scenes. Some interesting factors in the saga: Monsanto wants a European base to off-load its US based tax (apparently); Monsanto has in many ways “re-invented’ itself over the years and now tots itself as a “Technology” […]
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Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine Awarded for Research on Parasitic Diseases
This year the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (bit awkward and confusing the way it is named) was awarded to three researchers in what only can be described as recognising achievements that were very basic, practical and low on the radar when it comes to “high profile and attention grabbing”; for research on […]
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Plants rate low on the public radar!!!
The phenomenon of ‘plant blindness’, where the vast majority of people give little or no recognition to the natural vegetation in their surroundings as living organisms, and certainly rank them as less significant than the animals present in any environment, is all too common. Most people tend to have only their personal interests at heart […]
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Supermoon Eclipse (Bloodmoon)
For those who are interested in lunar eclipses, later this morning (ICT) or later tonight (US – EDT) there will be a combination of a lunar eclipse with a supermoon (which is a full moon at its closest point to the earth in its orbit). If you have already looked outside during the night (ICT) […]
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Phytopthera often a consequence of flood irrigation
Many farmers who flood-irrigate their crops tend to either use highly contaminated water supplies or, as is most often the case, flood irrigate for excessive periods of time retaining water in the channels for more than one day. Phytopthera is a fungal pathogen endemic in most areas and following extended periods of flood irrigation infect […]
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Tospoviruses in chilli pepper
Tospoviruses are now emerging as the cause of major disease problems of pepper in the Asian region. Some, including myself, would argue that these viruses have been around for more than a decade but have been difficult to confirm due to their complex nature as well as their symptoms, which are often difficult to confirm […]
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