CABI Blogs: hand picked... and carefully sorted

The International Day for Biological Diversity

The 22nd May 2009 is 'The International Day for Biological Diversity'. For 2009 the theme is Invasive Alien Species (IAS) - a major threat to biodiversity and food production - and a research and knowledge provision area that we here at CABI are are highly skilled in. The majority of our scientists time is spent tackling various IAS and mitigating their impact on agriculture and the wider environment. In addition our publishing team put together a detailed range of products, including the CAB Abstracts database subset on invasives, Major texts on Invasives (print and e-book) and also we are developing with the assistance of a consortia of international donors the Invasive Species Compendium for launch in 2010.

Ask our invasive expert a question today

Arne Witt is the coordinator for Invasive Species at CABI Africa based in Nairobi, Kenya. Arne is responsible for coordinating all CABI activities associated with Invasive Alien Species (IAS) on the African continent. He is also the current International Project Coordinator for the UNEP-GEF project, “Removing Barriers to Invasive Plant Management in Africa”.

You can ask Arne a question about invasive species on the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Ask an expert site during the whole of today, May 19th 2009. I encourage you to check the site on a regular basis throughout the day and pose questions to Arne.

Environmental impacts of Bt crops – on target or non-target?

Genetically modified crops containing a toxin gene from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis have been used by farmers for 11 years now. These Bt crops were designed to give the plants resistance to important pests. But might they also be harming non-target invertebrates?  A study by Steven Naranjo of the US Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service looks at the evidence and compares it with the impacts of the pesticides that would otherwise have been used.

Bt maize and cotton have been commercially produced on about 42 million hectares in 20 countries. Their potential non-target effects have been considered in over 360 published research papers. Naranjo, in his paper in CAB Reviews, looks across around 200 of these studies to draw conclusions.

 

Investigations found that the abundance of all non-target invertebrates was slightly lower for Bt crops than in non-Bt crops, but much higher in Bt crops than in non-Bt crops treated with insecticides. Using meta-analysis, a way of doing a meaningful comparison across different studies, Naranjo found that laboratory studies indicated negative effects of Bt on some non-target invertebrates, though these depended on how the trials were done and which invertebrates were being looked at. However, few harmful effects of Bt crops were shown in field studies. One factor may be that exposure to the Bt toxin is higher in the laboratory experiments than in the field. It was also clear that nontarget effects for insecticides are much greater than for Bt crops.

 

While Bt crops mean that some specialist parasitoids that would otherwise attack pests of maize have less to feed on, the overall levels of predation on pests have not been shown to drop. Naranjo believes Bt crops could enhance the role of biological control in integrated pest management.

 

Naranjo's paper emphasises that a key comparison to make is what would have happened without Bt crops. Bt maize and Bt cotton are believed to have led to a 136.6 million kg reduction in insecticide active ingredient, and rootworm-resistance crops will reduce the levels of insecticide present in the soil.

 

The paper, "Impacts of Bt crops on non-target invertebrates and insecticide use patterns" by Steven E. Naranjo appears in CAB Reviews: Perspectives in Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Nutrition and Natural Resources, 2009, 4, No. 011, 23 pp.

Download full CAB Reviews article

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Sri Lankan coconut farmers predict yields for future climates

Millions of people in the tropics depend on coconuts for food, raw materials and livelihood. Coconuts are also a high value commercial crop. But like any crop, coconuts are at risk of drought and other prolonged events. By using climate science and better agricultural forecast models, the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) has helped increase the resilience of coconut plantations to climate variability in one of the world's major producers, Sri Lanka.

"Coconut cultivation sustains the livelihood of large numbers in the tropics and is the most important crop for food security after rice in Sri Lanka," says IRI scientist Lareef Zubair.

Hygienic Honeybees to Save Hives

Back in November 2008, avid followers of hand picked........and carefully sorted will remember my blog about how Rowse Honey were investing £100,000 in honeybee (Apis mellifera) health research, to be undertaken by Britain’s only professor of apiculture, Francis Ratnieks. Well, after months of research it seems that significant headway has been made to breed hygienic honeybees and the plan is now to make them available to beekeepers (Lean, 2009).

A Lot of Land

Last week, The National Trust announced that it would be making land available for 1,000 allotments over the next 3 years. This apparently equates to an estimated 2.6 million lettuces per year, 50,000 sacks of potatoes or £1.5 million worth of mixed produce¹. With the increased popularity of growing-your-own, this will be welcome news to the 100,000 people reportedly on allotment waiting lists around the country. 40 different locations across England, Wales and Northern Ireland will benefit from the Trust’s plan, so where do we go for such a golden opportunity?

Crop-eating caterpillars swarm over Liberia

Last week Liberia's President declared a state of emergency and appealed for international aid to fight a plague of caterpillars that is spreading across Liberia, destroying whole farms within days and contaminating water sources with their faeces. Find out more about the pest, its impact on Liberia and how CABI is helping African farmers forecast pest attacks in time to spray their crops…

Dear handpicked readers, thanks for sticking with us

We've been blogging at handpicked for over 2 years now. We've enjoyed the experience so far and we hope you have as well. We'd like to know a little bit more about you, so we can make handpicked even better. So while stocks last, we'd like to offer you a copy of our 2009 fungi calendar, in exchange for you telling us about why you are a handpicked... reader.

With the help of mycologists and CABI scientists, we have put together a collection of striking and unusual images in a calendar to celebrate these amazing organisms. Containing 12 colourful images of fungi along with interesting fungi facts, this large format calendar has been specially created by CABI to showcase this little known kingdom. 

To get your FREE calendar, email us at blogfeedback@cabi.org with the following information :

1. Who you are
2. Why you subscribe/read this blog
3. Your address (so we can post the calendar to you)

In return, we will send you a FREE calendar and even cover the cost of postage. This is on a first come, first serve basis, so hurry while stocks last. Click through to the CABI site page to see a flash preview of the calendar.

 

GRO-Cocoa

The latest edition of GRO-Cocoa is available. GRO-Cocoa is a twice-yearly cocoa newsletter, funded by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). The newsletter allows readers to access the latest global research on Cocoa and is a forum for sharing ideas. More information and previous editions of the newsletter are available on the CABI project page. 

 

Obama's Rural Agenda

President Barack Obama unveiled his Rural Agenda last week.

Three core areas were identified:

• to ensure economic opportunity for family farmers;
• to support rural economic development;
• to improve rural quality of life