Insect pest and disease diagnostic services

The Diagnostic Clinic provides a disease diagnostic service to its members and partners. In this way, plant disease and pest problems can be readily identified and solutions to these problems sought. Information accumulated through this service is added to the FABI database on diseases and ensure a long term record of trends associated with pest and pathogen outbreaks. In addition, selected isolates and specimens of important disease agents are stored using state of the art technologies. These cultures and specimens are a critical resource for plant health research in the country (e.g. living cultures can be used for screening disease tolerance and in determining genetic variability over time).

For further information on the Diagnostic Clinic, please follow this link: Diagnostic Clinic

For samples relating to the Grain Research Program (GRP), please look at our information flyer.

Extention services

An important component of the Grain Research Programme (GRP) is to monitor pest and disease development on farms, in permanent sampling plots and through country-wide surveys. Data derived from these studies ensure the early discovery of new pests and diseases and also lead to a long term perspective on the importance of various pests and diseases.

For further information on the GRP extension services, please follow this link: Extension services

Pest surveillance

CROPWATCH AFRICA and FABI are partnering to perform pest surveillance in Mpumalanga, Limpopo, North-West, Free State, Kwa Zulu Natal and Eastern Cape for economically important maize pests, including Busseola fusca, Chilo partellus and Spodoptera frugiperda.

For more information and real time maps of the distribution of these pests visit www.Biosecurity.Africa