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Plant health in South Africa – threats to biosecurity, biodiversity and food security

Plaas TV/Farm TV and RSG Landbou is hosting Prof Wijnand Swart, University of the Free State

The National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF) is partnering with Plaas/Farm TV (YouTube broadcaster) to broadcast a series of monthly talks during the year on the topic ‘Plant health in South Africa – threats to biosecurity, biodiversity and food security’. The NSTF hosted a Discussion Forum on the topic over two days in June 2021 with 11 professionals in plant health, of which three are NSTF-South32 award winners.

Plant health is intrinsically linked to the survival of our planet and all that live on it. While plant health is a broad topic, it is imperative we understand the latest research and dynamics in the South African context.

The first talk in this series by Prof Mike Wingfield was aired in January 2022, with a focus on tree health. Our next interesting talk is by Prof Wijnand Swart, Department of Plant Sciences, University of the Free State (UFS); and President: Southern African Society for Plant Pathology (SASPP), talking to Plaas TV/Farm TV and RSG on the subject ‘Whither (or wither) Plant Pathology in the next 50 years’.

Tune in to this radio and TV interview with Prof Swart, to hear more about Plant health in South Africa.

RSG FM radio talk 
Date: Monday, 28 March at 05:00 – 05:30 am (GMT +2)
Frequency: 100 – 104 FM
Radio Sonder Grense (RSG) is a radio station broadcasting in Afrikaans nationwide. It belongs to the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC)

Plaas TV/Farm TV broadcast
Date: Wednesday, 30 March at 08:00 am
(GMT +2)
Plaas TV YouTube channel: 
https://www.youtube.com/c/PlaasTVFarmTV
Plaas TV is an agricultural media
house focusing on sound
technical content across all media platforms.

Biography of the speaker: Prof Wijnand Swart studied at Stellenbosch University obtaining a BSc degree in Forestry/Nature Conservation in 1980 and a MSc Agric (cum laude) degree in Plant Pathology specialising in forest tree diseases in 1986. In 1988, he was appointed lecturer in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of the Free State (UFS) where he obtained his PhD degree in 1991. He is currently Professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at UFS in Bloemfontein in the Division of Plant Pathology. He has authored or co-authored 123 scientific publications in highly accredited scientific journals and presented 189 papers at national and international congresses. He supervised or co-supervised a total of 54 MSc and PhD graduates in the past 33 years at the UFS. He is the current President of the Southern African Society for Plant Pathology (SASPP), a member of the NSTF.     

Listen to the first broadcast in this series (January 2022) with Prof Mike Wingfield titled ‘Gesondheid van bome en plante’ (Health of trees and plants) on Plaas TV/Farm TV YouTube Channel and a podcast of a radio talk on RSG Landbou. (Prof Wingfield won the prestigious NSTF-South32 Special Annual Theme Award: Plant Health in 2020.)

Follow the social media conversations on the following NSTF platforms:

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