Maize pest exploits plant defense compounds to protect itself

The western corn rootworm continues to be on the rise in Europe. Why attempts to biologically target this crop pest by applying entomopathogenic nematodes have failed, can now be explained by the amazing defense strategy ...

Fighting a destructive crop disease with mathematics

An international team of researchers has used mathematical modelling to understand new ways of combating maize lethal necrosis, an emerging disease that poses a serious threat to food security in sub-Saharan Africa.

Maize pests impacted by the climate

In East Africa, the caterpillars of two butterflies, Busseola fusca and Chilo partellus , represent a major threat for maize, the main food crop in the region. As recently borne out by the work of IRD researchers and their ...

Improving biorefineries with bubbles

A team of researchers from Japan's Tohoku University has developed a new method for the pretreatment of organic material, or "biomass", which could lead to more efficient production of biofuels and biochemicals.

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