Food security: discovery of a gene for immunity against a disease that ravages rice and wheat crops

The fungus Magnaporthe oryzae ravages rice and wheat crops and poses a formidable threat to human food on a global scale. Researchers from INRAE, CIRAD and the Université de Montpellier, together with the Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Centre (HHRRC) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) have discovered a gene in rice for resistance to this pathogen, challenging the findings of a study that remained the reference for 25 years. Published in Nature Plants on 4 June, these results pave the way to new solutions to improve disease resistance in crops that are compatible with the development of sustainable agriculture.

World food security affected by a shortage of pollinating insects

PRESS RELEASE - Crops that are pollinated by insects provide over a third of what the world eats. An international team involving INRA has revealed that increasing the quantity and variety of pollinating insects can increase crop yields by over 20% at the international level. These results, the product of a vast study conducted in 12 countries over a five-year period, appear in the 22 January 2016 edition of Science. The study highlights the importance of ecological intensification in agriculture in improving world food security and protecting pollinating insects and biodiversity.