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What's New: Fungus Prevention and Improving Photosynthesis

11/20/2015

 
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Today's post will be the first in a series we're calling "What's New". No more than once per month, this series will highlight the latest scientific discoveries in the field of agriculture. We'll comb the scientific online community for most important upcoming changes to the farmers world. Breakthroughs in preventing root rot caused by phytophthora, and improving photosynthesis are today's highlights. P.S. There's a huge punchline at the end.
Switching Pesticides To Prevent Root Rot
The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences published findings this week on how to prevent the spread of a fungi that produces water molds called phytophthora. This infamous fungus was actually the main cause of the Great Potato Famine in 1845, and is currently the cause of much of the soybean root rot in the Midwest.  Specifically, the study found that genetic diversity of the fungus is wide spread and due to the aggressive nature of it, phytophthora is able to develop resistance to pesticides rather quickly. Fortunately, by switching pesticides every couple years, the fungus is not able to adapt. Talk to your pesticide provider about it to find out more. Your beans could be next, like these plants below.
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​​If you'd like to know more about the difference between certain types of root rot and phytophthora, click here for an AgProfessional.com  guide on how to know which is which.

Higher Yields Through Better Photosynthesis
The University of Edinburgh recently discovered the component of algae plants that makes them superior growers. Normally, algae plants grow faster because of their photosynthesis efficiency. However, plant experts have been able to pinpoint those genes that give it such powers. Moreover, scientists transferred those genes to other plants like tobacco and cress plants, and have found they grow faster as well. The study was led by a Dr. Alistair McCormick who says:

"Simple plants such as algae are very good at fixing carbon from the air, compared with complex plants such as rice and wheat. If we can harness the systems that simple plants use to grow efficiently, we may be able to create highly productive crops."
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So, if scientists are able to transfer those algae genes to our field crops without sacrificing any other genetic features, this could be huge. And in terms of how huge, here's what I was thinking...
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Thanks for reading. See everybody next week!

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