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The research activities of PPRI focus on ecologically sound management strategies for agricultural pests, plant diseases and invasive plants, and promote the use of advantageous organisms to strengthen agricultural production in a sustainable way, through research, technology development and technology transfer.
There are five main research divisions:
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ARC-PPRI HOSTS INTERNATIONAL CHROMOLAENA WEBPAGE: IOBC WEBPAGE UPGRADED AND MOVED
Figure: Mature seed-head of C. odorata. Photo: Colin Wilson
Chromolaena is one of the worst invasive alien plant species in the world. Globally, programmes to control it biologically have been undertaken since the 1960s and, in many parts of the world, it is now under some degree of control.
The International Organization for Biological Control of Noxious Plants and Animals (IOBC) set up a Working Group on chromolaena in the 1990s, and a webpage was set up some time later, hosted by universities in Australia.
Given that most research on chromolaena biocontrol is currently being conducted by ARC-PPRI in South Africa, and that the convenorship of the IOBC Working Group is also here, the webpage has now been upgraded and moved, to be hosted by the ARC. It contains information on all aspects of chromolaena biocontrol globally, and will be updated regularly.
Contact:
Dr Costas Zachariades
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NO-TILL AND NEMATODES - QUANTIFYING THE EFFECTS OF CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE
No-till was used for the first time in South Africa approximately 40 years ago when Dr John Mallett sowed maize into a 12-year old Eragrostis stand at Cedara. In spite of this relatively long history of no-till in South Africa, there is little published data about the effect of no-till on nematodes. Internationally, the data available on the impact of tillage on nematode populations are inconsistent. It appears that tillage can increase, decrease or have no effect on the population size of nematodes. The Nematology Unit became involved in the Zeekoegat trial, north-east of Pretoria (quantifying the effects of conservation agriculture (ca) practices on soil and plant properties, social acceptability and economic viability) of ARC-ISCW to monitor the succession of nematodes in some of the reduced tillage, conventional tillage and rotation treatments, to gain a better understanding of the effect of conservation agriculture on nematodes under local conditions. (Read more...)
Contact:
Dr Mariette Marais or
Corrie Swanepoel |
