Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
HONduRAS
estim ate d
GHANA* CHINA* TANZANIA GReNAdA CAMBOdIA BARBAdOS AFGHANISTAN PAKISTAN PeRu RWANdA PAKISTAN PERU RWANDA SURINAME KENYA NEPAL INDIA SRI LANKA VIETNAM DR CONGO NICARAGUA UGANDA BOLIVIA 2012 (so far)
* Pilot clinics
182
300
124 70
2009
No. of countries with clinics
2010
2011
SuRINAMe KeNYA NePAL INdIA SRI LANKA VIeTNAM VIETNAM DR CONGO NICARAGUA UGANDA BOLIVIA 2009 NEPAL INDIA SRI LANKA VIETNAM DR CONGO NICARAGUA UGANDA BOLIVIA 2010 KENYA NEPAL INDIA SRI LANKA VIETNAM DR CONGO NICARAGUA UGANDA BOLIVIA 2011
10
11
15
24
dR CONGO NICARAGuA uGANdA NICARAGUA UGANDA BOLIVIA 2006 DR CONGO NICARAGUA UGANDA BOLIVIA 2007
BANGLAdeSH BANGLADESH BANGLADESH BANGLADESH BANGLADESH BANGLADESH BANGLADESH BANGLADESH BOLIVIA 2003 BOLIVIA 2004 BOLIVIA 2005
based in Beni in DRC. Patrick, with his experience in coordination, plant pathology and cocoa expertise was a perfect applicant and was hired by Esco in November 2010. In his time as a plant doctor Patrick has seen clinics come on leaps and bounds. The first Plantwise-Esco plant clinic opened in Mbau in the Beni district of North Kivu just a month after Patrick joined. Since then Plantwise and Esco have launched plant clinics in at least 13 sites across 4 districts of North Kivu, diagnosing samples from as many as 104 villages in the 18 months clinics have been operating. In 2011, 686 queries came into the clinics, and the figures are expected to grow for 2012. All this has kept Patrick very busy, and has only furthered his enthusiasm. Patrick is still as keen to continue to run clinics in the local area as he is in exploring new areas for clinics. He might run a clinic as far as 5-6 hours drive away! ESCO have been extremely positive about the development of a plant clinic system in their extension operations, as it not only builds their reputation, but also makes their field agronomists more knowledgeable. Their logistical support and assistance with infrastructure has been invaluable. With the help of people like Patrick, Plantwise is continuing to work with partners in DRC to help the countrys high number of smallholder farmers get the advice and support they need.
MaryLucy also described the powerful image-based diagnostic tool. This works by comparing the problem presented with images of the crop on the Knowledge Bank. MaryLucy gives an example say the problem is on wheat, then you type wheat in the search box and ask yourself, which part of the wheat was being affected? You can then select a specific part of the plant, for example leaves. This takes you to the diagnostic tool to see your results. And when you go there you find pictures of diseases on wheat, on leaves. The Knowledge Bank also provides support for the rest of the Plantwise programme by providing Plant Doctors with key information on pests and diseases. As MaryLucy points out, not all farmers are connected to the internet, whereas most of our plant doctors are connected to internet and they can refer to this information when there is need. This support capability is what makes the Knowledge Bank so valuable with it there is no guess work when it comes to diagnosing plant problems. MaryLucy highlights the importance of knowledge if you have knowledge of a particular pest on a particular crop you are able to manage it.
Patrick Mumbere Simbalalya is 27 years old and has lived in the war-torn North Kivu Province of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) all his life. Patrick is a graduate from the Universit Catholique du Graben, which specialises in agronomic research, and has been a Plantwise partner since 2005. His end of year thesis was on the use of botanical products in pest and disease control. Having graduated and gained experience of plant clinics at University (where students are the manpower at the clinics) Patrick was keen to stay in the field of agriculture, where he could put his knowledge and skills to use. Following his graduation, Patrick saw a position as plant clinic coordinator being advertised by Plantwise and Esco Kivu, the cocoa exporter
Plantwise Knowledge Bank from CABI Highly Commended at 2012 ALPSP Awards
The Knowledge Bank team are delighted to be recognised by the ALPSP community, said Shaun Hobbs, Global Director of the Plantwise Knowledge Bank. The Plantwise programme is a really important project designed with a clear focus on the needs of the farmers wholl use it. Its a great way for CABI to use our expertise in publishing to support our International Development mission. A commendation in this category highlights that, even after a century of work in this area, CABI continues to innovate in new and exciting ways. A key challenge for any global resource is to deliver locally applicable results and this is particularly true in agriculture. Knowledge Bank users can start their search from a homepage tailored to their country to ensure they are seeing geographically relevant information. They can also explore interactive distribution maps if they need a more regional or worldwide view. The diagnostic tool then identifies plant diseases and pests from pictures of symptoms and a range of factsheets provide information on possible treatments. Access to validated science-based information helps farmers and those who support them bring more crops to maturity. These crops feed farmers and their families, as well as contributing to the wider food security of countries across the world. The Plantwise Knowledge Bank currently holds over 1600 factsheets to help extension workers, government organizations and researchers identify solutions and the resource is continuing to grow.
The Plantwise Knowledge Bank has been highly commended in the Publishing Innovation category at the 2012 Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP) awards. As part of the wider Plantwise programme, the Knowledge Bank helps extension workers, government organizations and researchers support farmers by providing vital information on essential crops and the pests and diseases which attack them. The resource is intuitive and disarmingly simple with clear practical benefits, noted the awarding panel. They also recognised the geospatially indexed content and field observations, which connect farmers in developing countries to reliable plant health information.
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Plantwise is a global alliance, led by CABI, working together to improve food security and the lives of the rural poor by reducing crop losses.
BY PHIL TAYLOR
in order to be able to make correct diagnoses. One of the most important hand-outs they receive is a table of symptoms and causes of problems. This handy checker is an essential part of the plant doctor kit. They can cross reference the symptoms and causes so that they can tell if their diagnosis could be correct. Although pest and pathogens can give unique symptoms, many of them require careful examination and even the most experienced field worker cannot diagnose them with any certainty. That is why there is a component in the course which encourages plant doctors to forge links with diagnostic laboratories. If an internet and literature search cannot identify the problem (or if the symptoms are too nondescript) laboratory help is required. On the third and final day their newly acquired skills are put into practice, when they are required to run a plant clinic. Although nervous, with a bit of encouragement they soon usually realise that they can make sensible suggestions as to problems and what to do about them. Post training there is a debrief when they get to discuss their first experiences. Usually they are excited at having faced the public and they have a feeling of achievement. They leave with a certificate and trainer pack containing course summary and photosheets of common diseases on particular crops. The trainees tend to find the experience challenging but enjoyable. Stephen Byandala, a trainee in Uganda, summed up his feelings afterwards, The course was so good, enriching and hands on with practical experiences. He also brought home why plant doctor training is so important, plant clinics will go a long way in solving farmers pest and disease problems that are a threat to our food security.
Phil Taylor is a member of the Plantwise team, and has been involved in training plant doctors for several years. Plant doctors run plant clinics, where they give farmers diagnosis and treatment advice for crop pests and diseases. well as birds and mammals) or if they cannot diagnose it. Although some of the pictures are confusing, some of them are obvious and the trainees are encouraged to become bold in making a diagnosis (of abiotic or biotic) based on the photographs. The exercise is repeated with live specimens, which gently brings them to the idea of a diagnosis on a pest-crop combination they have never seen before. These presentations provide confidence in their abilities, convincing the trainees that they do not need to be experts
To find out more visit www.plantwise.org or contact: Phil Abrahams, Market Development Director T: +44 (0)1491 829374 e: p.abrahams@cabi.org