Combating plant diseases is key for sustainable crops

Climate change is likely to make plants more vulnerable to infectious disease, which will threaten crop yield and impact on the price and availability of food. Dr Adrian Newton, presenting his work at the Society for General Microbiology's Spring Conference in Harrogate, explains how exploiting diversity in crops is the best option to improve food security in a changing climate.

Pest and disease management has helped double food production in the last 40 years, but 10-16 percent of the global harvest is still lost to plant diseases each year costing an estimated US$220 billion (UK£135.021 billion). Climate change is impacting on the micro-organisms that cause these diseases. Read more ...

This blog is written by Martin Little The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine and International Milling Directory from Perendale Publishers