Last week from 3–8 July, 2022 the 16th World Congress on Parasitic Plants was held in Nairobi, Kenya. Over a 100 participants, mostly on site, partially online, listened to a range of scientific presentations on parasitic plants, from wild, endangered, species to damaging agricultural weeds, and from ecology to molecular biology and control. This first WCPP after the pandemic allowed us to once again facilitate the discussion between scientists from all over the world and working on all these different topics.
Halfway the meeting we made a field trip to Embu county (www.embu.go.ke), to see Alectra vogelii (Orobanchaceae) that has recently emerged as a novel threat to agriculture in Kenya.
The next WCPP, in 2024, will be held in Nara, Japan.