Better food security in Ghana and Mali undermines biodiversity
 Food production is increasing in both Ghana and Mali and levels of malnutrition are falling. This is because larger areas of land are being used for agriculture and because farmers have started producing more food per hectare. This practice is, however, undermining the natural ecosystem.
Study day on sustainable site management for teachers of agricultural education
 On Thursday 22 March, a study day for teachers in the agricultural education sector was held on the Wageningen UR campus. The teachers listened to lectures and watched demonstrations featuring various types of machines for controlling weeds on pavements.
Active Rhizoctonia inoculation leads to disease-suppressing soil
 Research of PRI shows that soil susceptible to Rhizoctonia solani can be made suppressive to this soil disease by inoculating the soil with R. solani one or several times. Fields on which cauliflower had been grown in the past were also found to be disease-suppressing.
The suppressive soil contained a large amount of Lysobacter, a bacterium with a suppressing effect on R. solani. Although the mechanism behind the soil suppressiveness to R. solani is still unclear, the important role of this bacterium in the control of R. solani is reconfirmed.
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