Each year, growers worldwide lose 20% to 40% of their crops to disease. To help farmers reduce these losses, North Carolina State University researchers are using knowledge gained over the past four years to better predict plant disease epidemics.
The 2020-23 Plant Aid project, funded by the university's Game-Changing Research Incentive Program for Plant Sciences Initiative, or GRIP4PSI, created and tested novel disease sensors, diagnostics, and predictive tools for plant diseases.
William Neal Reynolds Professor Jean Ristaino, of NC State's Department of Plant Pathology and Entomology, spearheaded the project. She said the $556,250 in GRIP4PSI funding was key in bringing together the kind of diverse faculty expertise needed to help growers reverse a rise in plant disease outbreaks.
These outbreaks have been exacerbated by climate change and new fungicide-resistant strains of plant pathogens that can be transmitted through global plant trade, she said.
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