Research
I AM CALS: Rick Brandenburg Serves Farmers in N.C., 50 Countries
After 38 years, an expert on pests in peanuts and turf finds international work more rewarding than ever.
CALS International Programs Partners for Our Planet’s Progress
CALS faculty members forge collaborations with industry, governments, research institutions and nonprofit organizations, working on every continent except Antarctica. Such projects have helped farmers in developing nations manage plant diseases and insects that harm life-sustaining crops; determined the toll that climate change is taking on rice, one of the world’s most important crops; improved nutrition; trained graduate students in advanced scientific technology—and much more.
Elevate NC State’s Plant Science Research
In early 2022 the global plant science community will have a new focal point for genetics and genomics research when the Genomic Sciences Laboratory opens in the NC State University Plant Sciences Building. “This new facility syncs well with the World Health Organization’s 2050 initiative to double food production in order to sustain the world’s fast-growing population,” GSL Director David Baltzegar, said.
Student Spotlight: Md Mahfuz Islam
Islam is one of six out of 101 college classmates who chose to pursue higher-level degrees abroad. He arrived in the U.S. in January 2021 after months of pandemic-related delays in the U.S. and Bangladesh that threatened his academic goals. Islam is now studying the impact of compost on the management of degraded or compacted construction sites and roadside urban soils.
Plants Return from Space in Microgravity Research Projects
The plant biology experiments of two NC State researchers are back on Earth after spending weeks at the International Space Station. Marcela Rojas-Pierce, a professor, and Imara Perera, a research professor, sent plant biology experiments to space in early June. Now, the projects have returned, and Rojas-Pierce and Perera will study how these plants have reacted and adapted to new and extreme environments.
Irish Potato Famine Pathogen Stoked Outbreaks on Six Continents
North Carolina State University researchers continue to track the evolution of different strains of the plant pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine in the 1840s, which set down roots in the United States before attacking Europe.
To Preserve Global Food Security, New Tools Needed to Prevent Plant Disease Pandemics
Plant diseases don’t stop at a nation’s borders and miles of oceans don’t prevent their spread, either. That’s why plant disease surveillance, improved plant disease detection systems and predictive plant disease modeling – integrated at the global scale – are necessary to mitigate future plant disease outbreaks and protect the global food supply.
Preserving Sweetpotato Exports
Thanks to a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service NC State scientists including PI, Lina Quesada-Ocampo, and IR-4 Project experts will examine how to continue North Carolina-grown sweetpotatoes to Europe despite European Union regulations lowering fungicide tolerances.
Farm-Level Study Shows Rising Temperatures Hurt Rice Yields
A study of the relationship between temperature and yields of various rice varieties, based on 50 years of weather and rice-yield data from farms in the Philippines, suggests that warming temperatures negatively affect rice yields.
Hamilton Chiango: Drought and Physiological Changes in Maize
Hamilton Chiango from Mozambique presented his USDA-FAS Borlaug Fellowship findings for a CALS SAIGE International Seminar. The fellowship focused on finding genotypes that can resist dry soil as a result of drought, which would be a significant success for the future of farming in Mozambique.