News tagged with crop disease

Scientists warn of emerging fungal peril

Fungal diseases are a major threat not just to wild plants and animals, but to us.

Biology / Ecology

created Apr 13, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 2

Tackle fungal forces to save crops, forests and endangered animals, scientists say

More than 600 million people could be fed each year by halting the spread of fungal diseases in the world's five most important crops, according to research published today in the journal Nature.

Biology / Ecology

created Apr 11, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

New research links crop disease and climate change

Researchers from the University of Hertfordshire have investigated links between crop disease and climate change which impact our food growth and production - affecting our food security today and for future generations. ...

Biology / Ecology

created Feb 28, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Stop abusing insecticides in rice

To prevent devastating insect pest outbreaks in rice that cause millions of dollars of damage, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) has called for a ban on certain insecticides in rice production as part of its ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Jan 05, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Researchers identify key plant immune response in fight against bacteria

Researchers at the University of Missouri have found a key process in a plant's immune system response that may help future crops fight off dangerous diseases.

Biology / Biotechnology

created Dec 08, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Research improves cold-hardy wheat

(PhysOrg.com) -- With global demand for wheat exceeding 20 billion bushels a year, producers need more high-yielding crops that can survive in the extreme climate of the Canadian Prairies.

Biology / Biotechnology

created Dec 06, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Examining rice genes for rice blast resistance

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists have characterized the molecular mechanism behind some plants' ability to resist rice blast, a fungal disease that affects cereal grain crops such as rice, wheat, rye and barley ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Oct 17, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Scientists first to characterize barley plant-stem rust spore 'communication'

Traditional thought has held that disease had to penetrate a plant to initiate resistance; however, two Washington State University scientists have established that a barley plant recognizes an invader and begins to marshal ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Oct 13, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Foreign insects, diseases got into US

(AP) -- Dozens of foreign insects and plant diseases slipped undetected into the United States in the years after 9/11, when authorities were so focused on preventing another attack that they overlooked a ...

Biology / Ecology

created Oct 10, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Smut fungus has found a new way to switch off plant immune defence

Pathogens causing plant diseases are an enormous threat in agriculture. They can spread rapidly and cause massive crop losses, particularly in today’s large-scale monocultures. To infect a plant successfully, ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Oct 06, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Chinese researchers say early climate changes responsible for human crisis

(PhysOrg.com) -- David Zhang of the University of Hong Kong and several of his Chinese colleagues have published a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, where they say they have proven that climat ...

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Oct 04, 2011 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (16) | comments 14 | with audio podcast report

Cacao collection expedition may yield weapons for combating witches' broom disease

Fungi found in the leaves and trunks of wild Peruvian cacao trees offer the potential for biological control of cacao diseases such as witches' broom disease, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists. ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Sep 15, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Breakthrough in protecting global crops from disease

A new form of resistance to fungal disease has been discovered in oilseed rape, one of the world’s most important crops, which could hold the key to developing disease resistant crops.

Biology / Biotechnology

created Sep 06, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Researchers work to identify how crops may be vulnerable to attack

On farmland around the globe, a silent war rages, between crops and the diseases that attack them. Crop diseases cost the world an estimated $220 billion every year and put millions at risk of starvation.

Biology / Biotechnology

created Jul 29, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Scientists map attack tactics of plant pathogens

Every year, plant diseases wipe out millions of tons of crops, lead to the waste of valuable water resources and cause farmers to spend tens of billions of dollars battling them.

Biology / Biotechnology

created Jul 28, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast