Some good news during these trying times:
The <http://www.fabinet.up.ac.za> Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology
Institute (FABI) at the <http://www.up.ac.za> University of Pretoria (UP)
has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with specialised service
provider Cropwatch Africa <https://www.cropwatch.africa> . The signing was
celebrated during the routine FABI Monday Morning Meeting on 6 April, over
Zoom in this time of lockdown. More than 170 FABIans joined the event from
wherever they are around the world in this period. A formal signing ceremony
will be held once the lockdown has been lifted.
The Dean of the
<https://www.up.ac.za/faculty-of-natural-agricultural-sciences> Faculty of
Natural and Agricultural Sciences at UP, Prof. Barend Erasmus
<https://www.up.ac.za/faculty-of-natural-agricultural-sciences/article/32486
/office-of-the-dean> , said that both parties have much in common and will
benefit greatly from this collaboration. This programme was an example of UP
reaching out to industry partners in line with the University's long-term
strategic direction of engagement. He pointed out that there is a lot of
expertise outside of academia that we can learn from and contribute to. He
pointed out that FABI is the perfect partner for this venture as it has a
long and successful track record of managing diverse partnerships with
industry and producing results.
<https://www.cropwatch.africa> Cropwatch Africa Business Development
Manager, Roedolf Nieuwenhuis said that he was very excited about this
partnership between his organisation and the University of Pretoria: "This
partnership is a giant leap forward towards ensuring food security, building
capacity, developing world-class systems, expanding research and creating
opportunities for all in the region". Cropwatch Africa's focus is to support
farmers, communities, industries and Governments across Southern Africa, in
safeguarding their resources, by ensuring the early detection of invasive
pests and diseases before they cause significant damage. Their detection
efforts increase the likelihood that new invasive plants, pests and diseases
will be successfully identified while occurrences are still localized, and
infected resources are not beyond containment and possible eradication. In
addition, Cropwatch Africa has developed cloud-based portals and mobile
applications to assist stakeholders with the collection of near-realtime
data for accurate decision making. A good example of this was when the
<http://www.fao.org/home/en/> Food and Agricultural Organisation of the
United Nations (FAO) approached them to roll out their system and train all
the southern African Governments during the Fall armyworm outbreak in
2017-2018.
The partnership will explore ways to develop research and service platforms
to address national plant health management needs in agriculture and
forestry, integrated plant health related data systems, develop pest and
disease diagnostic and monitoring tools and to develop capacity for plant
health management. FABI Director Prof. Bernard Slippers
<about://index.php/people-profile?profile=904> said this was a rich
opportunity to serve national and pan-African needs in industry and
Government, while also advancing frontier research and advanced training in
the field of plant health. The initiative is also strongly aligned with the
focus on the <about://index.php/iyph2020> UN International Year of Plant
Health 2020 (#IYPH2020) in FABI.
Link:
https://www.fabinet.up.ac.za/index.php/news-item?id=982
Roedolf Nieuwenhuis
Business Development Manager
+27 76 061 9993 | <mailto:roedolf@cropwatch.africa>
roedolf@cropwatch.africa | <http://www.cropwatch.co.za/>
cropwatch.africa
The <http://www.fabinet.up.ac.za> Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology
Institute (FABI) at the <http://www.up.ac.za> University of Pretoria (UP)
has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with specialised service
provider Cropwatch Africa <https://www.cropwatch.africa> . The signing was
celebrated during the routine FABI Monday Morning Meeting on 6 April, over
Zoom in this time of lockdown. More than 170 FABIans joined the event from
wherever they are around the world in this period. A formal signing ceremony
will be held once the lockdown has been lifted.
The Dean of the
<https://www.up.ac.za/faculty-of-natural-agricultural-sciences> Faculty of
Natural and Agricultural Sciences at UP, Prof. Barend Erasmus
<https://www.up.ac.za/faculty-of-natural-agricultural-sciences/article/32486
/office-of-the-dean> , said that both parties have much in common and will
benefit greatly from this collaboration. This programme was an example of UP
reaching out to industry partners in line with the University's long-term
strategic direction of engagement. He pointed out that there is a lot of
expertise outside of academia that we can learn from and contribute to. He
pointed out that FABI is the perfect partner for this venture as it has a
long and successful track record of managing diverse partnerships with
industry and producing results.
<https://www.cropwatch.africa> Cropwatch Africa Business Development
Manager, Roedolf Nieuwenhuis said that he was very excited about this
partnership between his organisation and the University of Pretoria: "This
partnership is a giant leap forward towards ensuring food security, building
capacity, developing world-class systems, expanding research and creating
opportunities for all in the region". Cropwatch Africa's focus is to support
farmers, communities, industries and Governments across Southern Africa, in
safeguarding their resources, by ensuring the early detection of invasive
pests and diseases before they cause significant damage. Their detection
efforts increase the likelihood that new invasive plants, pests and diseases
will be successfully identified while occurrences are still localized, and
infected resources are not beyond containment and possible eradication. In
addition, Cropwatch Africa has developed cloud-based portals and mobile
applications to assist stakeholders with the collection of near-realtime
data for accurate decision making. A good example of this was when the
<http://www.fao.org/home/en/> Food and Agricultural Organisation of the
United Nations (FAO) approached them to roll out their system and train all
the southern African Governments during the Fall armyworm outbreak in
2017-2018.
The partnership will explore ways to develop research and service platforms
to address national plant health management needs in agriculture and
forestry, integrated plant health related data systems, develop pest and
disease diagnostic and monitoring tools and to develop capacity for plant
health management. FABI Director Prof. Bernard Slippers
<about://index.php/people-profile?profile=904> said this was a rich
opportunity to serve national and pan-African needs in industry and
Government, while also advancing frontier research and advanced training in
the field of plant health. The initiative is also strongly aligned with the
focus on the <about://index.php/iyph2020> UN International Year of Plant
Health 2020 (#IYPH2020) in FABI.
Link:
https://www.fabinet.up.ac.za/index.php/news-item?id=982
Roedolf Nieuwenhuis
Business Development Manager
+27 76 061 9993 | <mailto:roedolf@cropwatch.africa>
roedolf@cropwatch.africa | <http://www.cropwatch.co.za/>
cropwatch.africa
