Clustering maize plants together can improve their insect resistance

In search of sustainable solutions, researchers from Zhejiang University in China in collaboration with partners from the Netherlands and Switzerland have uncovered an unexpected and powerful form of plant communication that could strengthen crop resilience. Their findings were published in Science

Maize (Zea mays) has long stood at the intersection of human culture and the natural world. Originating from teosinte, a wild grass domesticated in Mesoamerica over 9,000 years ago, it was gradually transformed through centuries of selective breeding by Indigenous farmers. From a small-eared plant with a handful of hard kernels, maize thus evolved into the high-yielding, single-stalked crop recognised worldwide today.