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plant science Archives - Page 25 of 91 - The Global Plant Council

alfalfa

Uncovering the Mysteries of Alfalfa Seed Dormancy Through Multispectral Imaging Analysis

By | Agriculture, News

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is a legume grown in many parts of the world as a source of animal fodder. It is prized in the forage industry for its high protein content and biomass yield. Recently, alfalfa protein has found applications in aquaculture, pet food industry and human diet. Furthermore, it is seen as an environmentally beneficial crop, with positive impacts on biodiversity and soil nitrogen conservation.

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‘Devastating’ fungal infections wiping out crops and threatening global food security, experts warn

By | Agriculture, News, Plant Health

Scientists have warned of the ‘devastating’ impact that fungal disease in crops will have on global food supply unless agencies across the world come together to find new ways to combat infection. Worldwide, growers lose between 10 and 23 per cent of their crops to fungal infection each year, despite widespread use of antifungals. An additional 10-20 per cent is lost post harvest. Academics predict those figures will worsen as global warming means fungal infections are steadily moving polewards, meaning more countries are likely to see a higher prevalence of fungal infections damaging harvests.

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Automated counting and measuring method for efficient maize trichome identification

By | Agriculture, News, Plant Science

Plant trichomes are highly specialized structures that develop from the epidermal pavement cells of different plant tissues. They are known to defend plants from biotic and abiotic stresses such as water loss, insect-inflicted damage, pathogen attacks, deadly ultraviolet radiation, and leaf temperature reduction. A research team from China recently utilized computer vision, artificial intelligence, and deep learning techniques to develop an automatic algorithm to count and measure maize trichomes.

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Multifunctional Patch Offers Early Detection of Plant Diseases, Other Crop Threats

By | News, Plant Health, Plant Science

Researchers have developed an electronic patch that can be applied to the leaves of plants to monitor crops for different pathogens – such as viral and fungal infections – and stresses such as drought or salinity. In testing, the researchers found the patch was able to detect a viral infection in tomatoes more than a week before growers would be able to detect any visible symptoms of disease.

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