Modern agriculture is facing a paradoxical crisis: we need to produce more food than ever before, yet the tools we use to protect that food are slowly destroying the environment it grows in. Every year, fungal pathogens wipe out nearly 40% of global crop yields, a devastating loss that threatens food security. For the last century, the only scalable answer has been the widespread application of synthetic pesticides. While effective in the short term, this approach has created toxic feedback: overuse pollutes soil and waterways, harms biodiversity, and drives the evolution of fungicide-resistant super-strains, forcing farmers to use ever stronger chemicals.
Compounding this struggle is the reality of a rapidly changing climate. Crops today must withstand not just pests and diseases, but also longer droughts, intense heatwaves, and higher levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation. With global initiatives like the European Green Deal aiming for a 50% reduction in chemical pesticide use by 2030, the agricultural world is desperate for novel strategies.
To find a sustainable alternative, a team of international researchers decided to stop inventing new poisons and instead study the plants themselves. Many plants, famously including the lotus, defend themselves using a waxy cuticle that repels water and removes pathogens through self-cleaning. Inspired by these superhydrophobic surfaces, the researchers developed a new bio-based, spray-on coating that recreates the protective functions of natural plant wax layers.
Read more at Advanced Science News
