Pest & Disease Risk Management

NEW: Presentations from the First International Coffee Rust Summit

FARMD (June 5, 2013) | World Coffee Research and PROMECAFE hosted the First International Coffee Rust Summit in April 2013. Coffee experts representing each segment of the industry’s value chain converged in Guatemala City April 18-20 to outline a plan of action addressing the rampant coffee rust epidemic that has devastated Central American harvests in the 2012-2013 season. Greater losses are expected in the coming season if immediate action is not taken. Presentations include a Situational Analysis of Coffee Rust (pdf), Communications (pdf), Rust Never Sleeps (pdf), Short Term Control Measures (pdf), Socio-Economic Controls (pdf), Extension Services (pdf), and Breeding (pdf).  >>Download all the Presentations

Featured Article: Incorporating plant species diversity in cropping systems for pest and disease risk management

Jacques Avelino¹, Régis Babin¹, Paula Fernandes², Martijn ten Hoopen¹, Jean-Baptiste Laurent³, Krishna Naudin³, Alain Ratnadass² of CIRAD

FARMD (June 2012) | Integrating selected plant species diversity in agroecosystems can reduce the impact of pests and diseases through several causal pathways, either individually or in combination (Ratnadass et al, 2012). However, knowledge on plant species diversity effects on pest and disease control is still very incomplete. Controversies regarding these effects exist, indicating that there is a need for clarifying the mechanisms and processes at play, particularly for tropical crops. Starting in 2008, CIRAD and its partners began implementing the Omega³ project. The project examines how pest and pathogen populations and their impacts are affected by the introduction of spatial and temporal plant species diversity in cropping systems. Read the Full Article

Contributors 

This featured topic looks at pest and disease risk management mainly within three major commodities, however also touching on additional areas of agriculture including cassava and aquaculture. Pest and disease risk management is an integral element of comprehensive risk management strategy. The potential losses from pest and disease incursion continue to grow, providing a clear rationale for improved risk management.

Pest & Disease Risk Management:

• Disease Management in Aquaculture
    Mimako Kobayashi and Randall Brummett, The World Bank

• Pest and Disease Threats to Coffee, Cocoa and Rice
    Dr. Alan MacLeod  & Dr. Julian Smith The Food and Environment Research Agency, UK

• Pest and Disease Management in Cocoa
    Professor David Guest, University of Sydney

Coffee Pest & Disease:

• Uganda Coffee Federation Members “Walking the Talk” in CWD-Resistant Materials Multiplication  
    Robert Waggwa Nsibirwa, Africa Coffee Academy and  
    Uganda Coffee Federation

• The pest incursion risk to PNG’s coffee production 
    Peter Baker, Bryony Taylor and  Sean T. Murphy, CABI

• Two mind-sets are better than one: Clean harvest in Colombia  
    Jeff Bentley and Peter Baker

Rice Pest & Disease

• Palayamanan: Diversification as Rice Pest Management Strategy
    Philippine Rice Research Institute

• Ecological engineering: a new approach for managing rice pests 
    G.M. Gurr, Charles Stuart University

• Bacterial Panicle Blight of Rice  
    Dr. Yeshi Wamishe, University of Arkansas

• The Rise of the Bakanae Disease of Rice in the Philippines  
    Christian Joseph R. Cumagun, University of the Philippines
    Los Baños

Further Reading & Resources

• CABI Invasive Species Compendium

• IPM Learning and Practicing Guide on Farmer-to-Farmer Dissemination of Bean IPM Technologies: Approach, Processes and Tools, International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)

• The importance of plant health to food security by Julie Flood, CABI (2010)

• SARDI Pests & Diseases IPM Manuals

• The Effects of Climate Change on Pests and Diseases of Major Food Crops in the Asia Pacific Region

• FERA Plant Pest and Disease Fact sheets

In addition to the above documents,  the FARMD Library for resources related to Cocoa Pest and Disease Risk Management