This year has been declared the International Year of Plant Health by the United Nations General Assembly. The idea is to raise awareness on how protecting plant health can help end hunger, reduce poverty, protect the environment, and boost economic development. In this issue of Quest we show some ways in which scientific research is helping to protect plants from pests and diseases, manage the risks and mitigate the impacts.
Theme
- IPM: Quest explores how integrated Pest Management helps protect plant health.
- Fall armyworm in maize: Hannalene du Plessis, Johnnie van den Berg and Annemie Erasmus discuss risk management options
- Genetics to the fore: Kirsty Botha tells us how disease resistance in wheat can be improved
- Viruses as biopesticides: Michael Jukes and Michael van der Merwe review progress
- Bats versus macadamia crop pests: Sina Weier, Valerie Linden and Peter Taylor share their findings
- Remote sensing to the rescue: Christine Cuenod explains how satellite imagery can be used in pest detection
News
- Chemistry for clean air
- Local astronomers witness starburst heatwave
- Africa’s first PhD in indigenous knowledge of astronomy
- UJ take top spots at 3MT
Features
- Small science for big innovations: Nicklaus Kruger reports from SA NanoSchool
- Decoding the mystery of DNA: Rene Veikondid and Alvera Vorster give examples of DNA applications
- People and plants in Stone Age: May Murungi tells us about archaeobotany at Bushman Rock Shelter
- Shedding light on point-of-care diagnostics: The CSIR biophotonics group share their research
