Introduction
The coffee bean is one of the world’s most widely utilized commodities touching almost every continent. In the book Coffee Rust: Epidemiology, resistance, and management Ajjamada Kushalappa asserts, “After petroleum coffee is the most important product in international world trade” (Kushalappa, Eskes 1989) Given this fact, it can be safe to assume the growing of this crop plays a large role in many countries economic stability. Coffee rust is a disease of the Coffee tree which has proven it has the ability to decimate a farmer’s crop in a short period of time. Coffee rust is caused by the fungus Hemileia vastatrix. This disease has been established as one of the most catastrophic plant diseases of human history, along with others such as blight of potato and black stem rust of wheat. (Kushalappa, Eskes 1989)
The Coffee Rust disease is often considered a classic plant disease because it has been studied for such a long time, “Probably the first report of rust was that of a British Explorer in 1861, in the region of Lake Victoria of Kenya in east Africa” (Kushalappa, Eskes 1989). At this time knowledge of the fungi’s biology was extremely limited so really effective control measures could not be established. Because the coffee bean became such a widely distributed product and its popularity caught on quickly, it is easy to imagine how quickly the disease spread through trade. Small outbreaks of the disease occurred throughout the late 1800s, but by 1986 widespread presence of the disease was being reported” (Kushalappa, Eskes 1989). A great majority of the worldwide coffee production is located in Brazil, and Kushalappa states that the Coffee Rust Fungi was reported as present in 1970. (1989). Through human interv...
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Coffee lab environment: The theme of the coffee bar is more like an island, which allows customers to walk around and interact directly and indirectly with baristas. The interactive which also allows customers to express their thoughts, needs, and expressions about the coffee lab. This can bring up to an improvement of the overall coffee lab. It creates inviting environment for its
Sclerotinia stem rot (SSR) is caused by fungus named sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary. It is a common disease in oilseed rape (Brassica napus) field. In Sweden, S. sclerotiorum can cause 60% yield reduction in infected fields (Nordin, 1992). SSR is a major disease of canola in North Dakota. The incidence ranged from 7-19% in North Dakota from 1991 to 1993. ( Lamey, 1995). It occurs almost every year and in most regions of the state. Symptoms on canola appear when flowering appear two to three weeks after infection. Mushy is the first visible symptom. Petals are the first part to be infected, then infection can spread to leaf petioles and finally to stems. Light brown discoloured patches will show on stems, branches and pods. These lesions will expand and the plant surface becomes greyish-white color. When main stem is infected, the canola plant will be easy to lodging. Hard, black structures called sclerotia (survival structure of the pathogen) will be produced on infected tissues after the infection is well-established. It can be found inside of infected stem.
In the 1880's a harmful fungus known as blight, inhabited the United States from imported Japanese chestnut trees. Blight quickly spread, killing chestnuts and chinquapins, which is another species of chestnut that produces 1 nut per bur. In 1904, Chestnut blight appeared infecting trees in New York City and spread at a rate of 20-50 miles per year. By 1906, W.A. Murrill reported that this disease is known to occur in New Jersey, Maryland, District of Columbia, and Virginia. In 1912, the Planet Quarantine Act was passed to reduce the chances of plant deterioration or devastation prevention. Chestnut Blight or Chestnut Bark Disease was originally found in 1904 and within 50 years, it spread across the eastern United States, from Maine to Georgia and as far west as the edge of Michigan. By 1950, the American chestnut was essentially eliminated as a forest tree. In 1972, importation from Italy gave a biological control in which a virus helped prevent the blight f...
investigating fungal growths on wooden spools and corrosion of wire ropes used to transfer people and
So why is it now that humanity is suddenly threatened by these plant diseases? There are two problems that have created this issue. The first is rapid global population growth. Farmers will have to double their crop yields by 2050 in order to keep up with population growth, according the National Geographic article, "Feeding 9 Billion."
Coccidioides immitues is transmitted by airborne transmission. A human can breath in the fungi spores and if it reaches the lungs, it can cause flu like symptoms and an upper respiratory infection. The fungi are normally destroyed in the lungs, but occasionally it grows and produces lots of endospores within the cell. Then if the cell lyses and releases the endospores, the endospores can then be transported by the blood to other parts of the body. The endospores can then get into the central nervous system and in the brain where they will germinate. After they germinate, it can cause a disease where most patients experience an allergic reaction to the fungus that causes reddening off the skin referred to as desert bumps (volk 2002).
Brazil nuts are harvested at plantations and in the wild. Plantations are being developed in various parts of the Amazon. Fazenda Aruana is the owner of a 12,000 hectare former cattle ranch, partially converted to a Brazil Nut plantation in 1980. By January of 1990, 318,660 Brazil nut trees were planted on 3341 hectares of land. Fazenda's original intent was to plant Brazil Nut trees in a 20 by 20 meter grids and allow cattle grazing between the trees. The trees in the Aruana plantation are the result of grafting high yield clones from the region of Abufari Amazonas were Brazil nuts are know for their large fruits and seeds. As a result of fertilization from the same clones, the fruit production among clones has been low(2). Another danger in using so few clones is the ability to resist attack of disease and insects.
Tannia was introduced between the 16th and 17th centuries to Central and West Africa, where it was given the common name of cocoyam because of its resemblance to Colocasia. It was brought by Portuguese slavers into SaoTomé and Principe, where they had important trading bases and was spread further by traders, missionaries and other travelers (Bown, 2000; George, 2011). It was introduced to Ethiopia in 1978 (Amsalu et al., 2008).
For years Professor Mary Kilbourne Matossian has been testing and believing that the infected rye was caused by ergot (Star-News 1). Historians have found no conspiracies in the group of peasants, which leads them to believe that it was cause by the fungus. Allegedly in France they had a bad crop of rye that year, which was caused by the cold winter and wet spring (Microbes and Society 170). They now believe that them conditions lead to the spread of ergot. The land prevailed that year in NOrthern France where rye bread was the staple of the peasant diet (Feinberg 1), which is why most believe that it is the leading cause of the
Moreover, they do not offer effective solutions to climate change and are as energy-hungry as any other chemically farmed crops. They also cannot solve the problem of world hunger, but distract from its real causes – poverty, lack of access to food and, increasingly, the lack of access to land to grow it on (18.)
Climate change has negatively impacted the production of coffee beans in Central America. Coffee tree’s are accustomed to a temperature between 59-75 fahrenheit in order to produce coffee beans. The slightest change in temperature such as half a degree can negatively affect the crop. Extreme droughts and intense rainfall have been occurring due to climate change. This has created a decrease in production by at least 30% in all Central America producing coffee countries. The rise in temperature has also allowed coffee tree diseases such as roya which is a leaf rust fungus to break out. Roya infects the leaves on the coffee tree’s causing them to fall off. The less amount of leaves on the tree’s the less amount of energy the tree is receiving,
Plants like many eukaryotic composed organisms have the ability to detect and protect themselves against microorganisms known as pathogens. Plant fossils have recorded that land plant’s existence was established 480 million years ago, but molecularly, plant evolution began 700 million years ago. Molecular interaction with microbes and other organisms gave the shape and structure of plants, giving us an idea that microbes also evolve according to its host. Plants lack mobility depriving themselves from a somatic secondary immune response like many mammals giving pathogens the ability to easily attack. Pathogenic microbes can access plants by penetrating through the leaves, entering through plant wounds, or by using the stomata a natural pore on plants that opens and closes for gas exchange. To detect and stop from extensive damage from microbes, plants developed an immune system through its structure, chemicals, and defense proteins.
2. Cook, A. A. 1975. Diseases of Tropical and Subtropical Fruits and Nuts, Hafner Press,
Cocoa production is predicted of getting shortage of supply in 2020 (Nelson, 2017). The famous chocolate drink that Malaysian drink daily, Milo contains cocoa. Other than Milo, Koko Krunch, Nestle Crunch Wafer, KitKat are also mainly made from cocoa. Nestle as a company which largely depends on cocoa bean for its products, will become one of the victim of this cocoa supply risk. The biggest cocoa producer in the world, Ivory Coast, is facing the problem of diseases infected in cocoa plant, frequent rain, and buyers forcing producers to sell cocoa at very low price (The Guardian, 2014). In Malaysia and Indonesia, cocoa plantations are threatened by a tiny moth named as cocoa pod borer which eat the seed (Nelson, 2017).. These pests has cost cocoa
Genetic engineering enhances plant resistance to drought, salinity, disease, pests and herbicides. The aim is to try and enhance the growth, productivity, nutrient value, and chemical composition of the plants. Chemicals are constantly being developed or improved to enhance the competitiveness and adaptability of crops, and to kill the parasites and weeds which plague the agricultural sector. . This however is not always good as the plant and the pests then become resistant to these new chemicals defeating the purpose of it being used. The new chemicals which are produced to kill these strong pests and weeds may be more harmful to other plants and remove nutrients within the soil in turn reducing the yield of agricultural crops. The benefits of these characteristics are seen in Argentina according to Pelletier (2010) as they use glyphosphate resistant soybean which allowed the comeback of this crop, as the so...