Tar Spot Complex
CIMMYT releases its first ever maize genetic resource lines
Nutrition, health and food security
The nine new maize lines are especially valuable for breeders seeking drought tolerance or tar spot complex disease resistance.
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.
Breaking Ground: Breeder Marcela C. Andrade bolsters maize with hardiness from ancestral races
Innovations
Traits sought include better resilience under high temperatures, drought conditions or the attacks of rapidly-evolving crop diseases.
Tar Spot Complex a potential big black spot on US maize economy
Nutrition, health and food security
A new study shows that nearly 12 million hectares of the maize-growing USA, approximately 33 percent of the entire maize-growing area of the country, might be vulnerable to a disease called Tar Spot Complex (TSC).
Preserving native maize and culture in Mexico
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Indigenous farmers in Oaxaca are custodians of maize biodiversity, growing seeds passed down over generations.
Ancient maize varieties provide modern solution to tar spot complex
Nutrition, health and food security
In southern Mexico and Central America a fungal maize disease known as tar spot complex is decimating yields, threatening local food security and livelihoods.