plant diseases
Safeguarding biodiversity is essential to prevent the next COVID-19
Environmental health and biodiversity
Experts share their insights on the link between biodiversity loss and emerging infectious diseases.
Crossing boundaries
Nutrition, health and food security
Looking at wheat diseases in times of the COVID-19 crisis.
Pests and diseases and climate change: Is there a connection?
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Although farmers have been battling pests and diseases since the dawn of agriculture, experts warn that climate change could accelerate or expand their spread.
What is wheat blast?
Nutrition, health and food security
Wheat blast is one of the most fearsome and intractable wheat diseases in recent decades. It spreads through infected seeds, crop residues as well as by spores that can travel long distances in the air, posing a major threat to wheat production in tropical areas.
Agricultural solutions to tackle humanity’s climate crisis
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Science offers opportunity to curb greenhouse gas emissions related to agriculture and meet climate goals.
Scientists develop an early warning system that delivers wheat rust predictions directly to farmers’ phones
Innovations
New research describes a revolutionary early warning system that can predict and mitigate wheat rust diseases in Ethiopia.
Smallholder farmers’ multi-front strategy combats rapidly evolving wheat rust in Ethiopia
Nutrition, health and food security
Researchers found farmers who increased both the area growing resistant varieties and the number of wheat varieties grown per season saw the biggest yield increases.
Bird’s-eye view
Innovations
Multispectral and thermal images taken by cameras on unmanned aerial vehicles are helping researchers to monitor the resistance of maize to tar spot complex and other foliar diseases.
Shifting to a demand-led maize improvement agenda
Climate adaptation and mitigation
In annual meeting, STMA project partners build on the successes of research in combatting drought, heat, pests and disease.
New infographics illustrate impact of wheat blast
Nutrition, health and food security
They show how wheat blast spreads, its potential effect on wheat production in South Asia and ways farmers can manage it.
International coalition keeps devastating maize disease at bay, but risks still linger
Capacity development
Delegates review the third year’s progress of the MLN Diagnostics and Management Project.
Cobs & Spikes podcast: Matthew Rouse discusses research on wheat diseases
Nutrition, health and food security
We talk to the recipient of the World Food Prize 2018 Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application. Rouse is being recognized for his work on Ug99.
New publications: Toxin-producing fungal strains can now be detected in maize field soils with a new technique
Environmental health and biodiversity
New online portal offers information to curb maize lethal necrosis in Africa
Innovations
The new maize lethal necrosis online portal provides up-to-date information and surveillance tools to help researchers control and stop the spread of the deadly disease.
