Crowdsourcing to beat lethal PSA
NZ produces 30% of the world's kiwifruit but the crop was been hit by the deadly disease in 2010. Since then around 85% of the country's kiwifruit orchards have been hit by PSA.
Scientists at Plant & Food Research are hoping that crowdsourcing knowledge will help them find the answer to the lethal kiwifruit disease PSA.
The scientists have shared the genome sequences of kiwifruit and PSA bacterium online for other scientists around the world to determine the underlying biology of the infection and identify breeding tools that can control the disease.
New Zealand produces 30% of the world’s kiwifruit but the crop was been hit by the deadly disease in 2010. Since then around 85% of the country’s kiwifruit orchards have been hit by PSA.
Crowdsourcing, mostly used for funding start-up businesses, is a way of sharing scientific knowledge and generating research areas. Plant and Food Research is hoping scientists will be able to share new ideas for research and collaboration into a serious problem for kiwifruit growers worldwide.
Jamie Ball for NBR property investor
Fri, 20 Feb 2015
Fri, 20 Feb 2015
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Crowdsourcing to beat lethal PSA
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