麻豆约拍

How do you stop a plant pathogen ripping through our farms and gardens? Pippa Greenwood follows the front line scientists defending our herbivorous economy.

Nearly everyone on earth remembers the disruption, damage, and of course deaths, resulting from the 2020 Sars CoV-2 spread, but have you ever considered what would happen if plants suffered a similar wave of deadly infection?

As humans, our lives and economies are completely dependent on the wellbeing of plants. From the major food crops (both our foods and animal feed), to timber and textiles.

Pippa Greenwood has spent most of her adult life fascinated by plant pathogens and the vulnerabilities of our crucial crops.

For this programme she has travelled to the front line of the UK's efforts to monitor, predict and prevent disease entering the country and the scientists working full time to keep our farms and nurseries safe. From the docks and ports, to the importers, the inspectors and the labs that make up the UK safety net, she describes quite how much goes on without most of us knowing. And finds some simple ways in which we can all play our part.

Presented by Pippa Greenwood

Produced by Alex Mansfield