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Soil Microorganism in a Petri Dish Theoretically, if all farmers could achieve the highest attainable yield — worldwide crop production would rise by 45-70%. The yield losses come from inadequate fertilizer or water, or by losses to pests or disease. A study by Oerke in 2006 reported yield reductions of up to 50-80% without crop … Read more

Corn leaf blight of maize Plant diseases and pests are the largest contributors to crop losses worldwide, with an estimated 27–42% in production systems and potential losses of 48–83% in the absence of crop protection (Oerke and Dehne, 2004). Biocontrol is the use of biological organisms to control plant diseases. The use of biocontrol could … Read more

Discovering Pythium and how it influences agricultural crops Pythium is an oomycete, and even though oomycetes were previously considered a fungi, it has been recently shown that oomycetes are actually closer related to golden algae, brown algae, yellow-green algae and diatoms (read more). However, it is still common to find Pythium species considered as fungi … Read more

Fusarium oxysporum f.sp cepae: the threat against onions Onions. You chop them into your Friday night salsa, or sauté them in your Tuesday night stir fry. But have you ever thought about the challenges the humble onion faces? The onion has been farmed across the UK for centuries, and on a global scale, the onion is … Read more

What is plant disease and what are the causes? Plant diseases (caused by pathogenic microorganisms such as fungi, oomycetes and bacteria) are widespread within agricultural systems and are often economically devastating for growers. The biological threat from pathogens accounts for about a 16% loss in global food production, and the problem is forecast to worsen … Read more