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Lecture 1

Blights & famines:

- oldest references of plant disease (prehistoric & biblical)

- wheat suffered from stem rust; fungus lands on leaf/stem & sucks nutrients out

- rust control in 1660 was to eradicate barberry plants between wheat crops - they were a host in the off seasons

- potatoes introduced to Europe in 1565; from Andes where they grew in polycultures, now in clonal monocultures (sp. which produced biggest tubers)

- before potatoes were introduced all families needed to farm - introduction meant there could be dedicated farmers & other workers - led to industrial revolution

- potato blight: leaves shrivel & can't photosynthesise; Phytophthora infestans