Agriculture is not restricted to one generation

Future generations need to know how to deal with the issues that arise and use new technologies that are available

Alyssa Swehla, a Borlaug-Ruan International Intern from Iowa State University, USA, worked on a research project this summer at the World Vegetable Center South Asia to find an effective biological control agent against dry root rot in mungbean.

Mung bean is an important staple crop in India for human nutrition, its suitability for planting in rotation with rice or wheat to help fix nitrogen in the soil, and the income it can bring in for farmers. But dry root rot has severely impacted the production of mungbean in India, and the chemical fungicides currently used to control the disease cause environmental and human health risks.

Alyssa is currently doing a double major in Agronomy and Global Resource Systems at Iowa State University so she can continue to work on food and nutrition systems.

Video courtesy of ICRISAT.