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’.