Nagoya University: Helping secure the world's food supply, now and in the future.
Professor Tetsuya Higashiyama outlines some significant achievements in plant science at Nagoya University.
* The Witchweed (or Striga) Problem in Africa
Witchweed causes $13 billion damage annually in Africa and affects the food supply of millions of people. Researchers at Nagoya University's Institute for Transformative Biomolecules have discovered how to eliminate witchweed from fields and crops. Field trials are ongoing in Kenya.
* Rethinking tobacco. (See Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZVse37eJ6I)
Professor Notaguchi's research team at the School of Bioagricultural Science discovered a process using tobacco as an intermediary that enables the grafting of any plant types together.
Up to now, grafting, a traditional method to improve the taste and resilience of a plant, was limited only to neighbouring species.
"We are able to grow crops and plants in environments previously considered inhospitable.・
Global warming will affect food supplies worldwide. This grafting discovery will help provide food security in the future.
