Pests and diseases threaten food security and farm profits. How can we mitigate the risk of spreading plant pests and diseases through trade? By Dane McDonald. “Plants provide nearly 80% of our daily calorie intake,” said Jan Hendrik Venter, Director…
A 16-year quest to identify a mite intercepted on Italian kiwis highlights critical challenges in biosecurity systems. By Dane McDonald. Entomologist Dr Davina Saccaggi of Citrus Research International illustrated the challenges of navigating international biosecurity by recounting the story of…
Keeping your orchard pest-free. By Dane McDonald. It is the trouble every fruit grower is trying to avoid— finding a fruit-fly larva— just one hit can ruin the day, if not the entire season. “Nobody wants a maggot in their…
Dr Shelley Johnson, a quarantine entomologist, says the deciduous fruit industry’s export market is based on sound phytosanitary principles — monitoring in particular. By Dane McDonald. Johnson, a Hortgro and Stellenbosch University researcher, says the ideal way to manage phytosanitary…