Phytophthora Infection News on agriculture-xprt.com

Pest ants help to improve Indonesian cocoa yields

Native ants living in cacao trees in Indonesia that are often seen as pests in fact seem to boost their yields, a study suggests. Scientists from Germany, Indonesia and Sweden studying how ant communities affect cocoa yields in Sulawesi found that trees with abundant native ants (Dolichoderus sp.) produced the best yields. In contrast, the yields of cacao trees where ants were excluded were 27 ...

Dec. 17, 2013

By SciDev.Net

Managing Late Blight of Potatoes and Tomatoes

Late blight is one of the most serious diseases of potatoes and tomatoes worldwide, resulting in significant yield and quality losses annually. In Alberta, late blight occurs infrequently, but can have devastating impacts in the years when it reaches epidemic levels. “This disease is caused by a fungal pathogen called Phytophthora infestans,” says Robert Spencer, ...

May 12, 2014

By Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development

Controlled forest fires could kill invasive tree disease

In a new study, researchers examined the potential influence of human-driven changes in land-use on disease establishment in forests. The research suggests that changes in forest management, which encourage greater and more dense forest cover, are creating environmental conditions that promote disease. The invasive, fungal-like Phytophthora ramorum causes Sudden Oak Death (SOD), which is ...

May 19, 2008

By European Commission, Environment DG

Scientists find new defence front against the Potato Blight

In this week 'Nature Plants', scientists from Wageningen University, The Netherlands, and The Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich, UK, report the identification of a resistance gene that enhances resistance against potato late blight from a South American wild relative of cultivated potatoes. The gene targets elicitin, a conserved protein with an important biological function, making it less likely ...

Mar. 30, 2015

By Wageningen University and Research Centre

Low-altitude aerial images allow early detection of devastating avocado disease

Low-altitude aerial images can detect laurel wilt, a devastating avocado disease, giving growers an early way to identify diseased trees and perhaps help reduce losses to the $100 million-a-year economic impact avocados provide Florida. Reza Ehsani, an associate professor in agricultural and biological engineering at the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred, used a ...

May 26, 2015

By University of Florida Powell Center for Construction & Environment

USDA awards more than US$28m in specialty crop research

Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer has announced that USDA awarded more than $28 million through the Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) to solve critical specialty crop agriculture issues, address priorities and solve problems through multifunctional research and extension. The Specialty Crop Research Initiative was established by the 2008 Farm Bill to support the specialty crop industry by ...

Oct. 16, 2008

By U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)