Plant parasitic nematodes (PPNs) are obligate biotrophic parasites causing serious damage and reduction in crop yields. Several economically important genera parasitize various crop plants. The root-knot, root lesion, and cyst nematodes are the three most economically damaging genera of PPNs on crops within the family Heteroderidae. It is very important to devise various management strategies a...

Genetic modification of crop plants has promoted concerns about potential environmental effects of this new technology. In this essay, I will discuss the environmental effects of genetic modification of crop plants using herbicide resistance as an example. Considering herbicide resistance as an old agricultural trait, it is difficult to find any reason to assess the environmental risks of genet...

Farmers need alternatives for weed control due to the desire to reduce chemicals used in farming. However, conventional mechanical cultivation cannot selectively remove weeds located in the seedline between crop plants and there are no selective herbicides for some crop/weed situations. Since hand labor is costly, an automated weed control system could be feasible. A robotic weed control system...

Development of an autonomous weeding machine requires a vision system capable of detecting and locating the position of the crop. It is important for the vision system to be able to recognize the accurate position of the crop stem to be protected during weeding. Several shape features of corn plants and common weed species in the location were extracted by means of morphological operations. Eff...

Crop plants are subjected to multiple abiotic stresses during their lifespan that greatly reduce productivity and threaten global food security. Recent research suggests that plants can be primed by chemical compounds to better tolerate different abiotic stresses. Chemical priming is a promising field in plant stress physiology and crop stress management. We review here promising chemical agent...

Viral diseases in crop plants constitute a major obstacle to food security in the developing world. Subsistence crops, including cassava, sweetpotato, potato, banana, papaya, common bean, rice and maize are often infected with RNA and/or DNA viruses that cannot be controlled with pesticides. Hence, healthy planting materials and virus-resistant cultivars are essential for high yields of good qu...

Gene flow exposed by genetically engineered crops Gene flow is the transfer of genes between populations of the same or related species. The exchange between crop cultivars of genes selected by traditional breeding that confer characteristics such as shorter stems, higher yield, or increased seed quality will attract little attention. In the same way, crop-weed hybrids having acquired traits su...

Microbial infections of crop plants present an ongoing threat to agricultural production. However, in recent years, we have developed a more nuanced understanding of the ecological role of microbes and how they interact with plants. This includes an appreciation of the influence of crop physiology and environmental conditions on the expression of disease symptoms, the importance of non-pathogen...