More than 1.6 million people die a year from fungal infections - about three times more than from malaria. Every year there are more fungal diseases in the world,   becoming more deadly, and we still know little about them and how to fight them. Fungi are a separate kingdom in nature, neither animals nor plants. Some of their properties make it very difficult to fight them or develop drugs to treat the infections they cause. Death from fungal infections is, according to many researchers, a "silent epidemic".

A little less than eight hundred million tons of wheat are harvested in the world annually, but soon it won't be enough to feed us all. The combination of population explosion and the climate crisis poses a fundamental challenge to science: how to feed everyone? One important avenue is to adapt crops to changing climate with the help of genetic intervention to improve crops, both in quantity and quality.

Although bacteria are single-celled creatures without a brain, they have a fifth of the genes that we humans have, and when it comes to wars for food and territory, they are as creative, diverse and violent as we are.

The guest in the current episode of HUJICAST, Dr. Assaf Levy, is the head of the Levy Laboratory in the Department of Plant Diseases and Microbiology. His research deals with bacteria wars - between themselves and between  other microorganisms. The lab combines methods from the fields of microbiology, bioinformatics, molecular biology and plant sciences.

Most plants in the world spread their seeds by the wind and by bee pollination. But there are also quite a few seeds that are pedestrians. Seeds that stay on the ground and have to fend for themselves completely and start wandering to find a suitable place to germinate, and of course manage to do all this without being eaten - and they do it in a fascinating variety of ways.

How do they migrate? Does a seed have legs? How far does sperm travel? We talked about all these things, and more, with Prof. Rebecca Elbaum, the guest in this episode of HUJICAST.

The agricultural reform came into effect in July 2022 and its stated goal is to lower the cost of living. The main points of the reform are easing the import of fruits and vegetables, removing tariffs, and changing the strict import regulations that prevent imports to Israel. On the other hand, the reform is supposed to provide protections for Israeli farmers through direct financial support and a budget for research and innovation. Will the reform, which was accepted after quite a few postponements and changes, actually succeed in lowering the cost of living? And no less important, what does the reform say about the future of farmers and agriculture in Israel - and in the long run, what does it say about the nutritional security of Israeli citizens.

Irrigating with Treated Wastewater

Healthy soil is critical for sustaining life on earth. In fact, every single bite of food starts as a plant growing in the ground. Dr. Yair Mau studies how the basic act of watering crops affects soil salinity, while gaining insights into basic processes that affect soil quality. He also studies how plants cope with environmental stressors posed by climate change. Dr. Yair Mau is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Soil and Water Sciences.

Mushrooms - a magnificent kingdom and one that is still mostly mysterious to us. It is estimated that there are between five and ten million species of mushrooms in nature. We only know a small fraction.. Fungi are is more like people than bacteria.
This episode will not deal with edible mushrooms or hallucinogenic mushrooms, but with pathogenic fungi in agriculture.

More than half of plant diseases are caused by fungi, which can survive exposure to toxic substances and even develop resistance - a serious  opponent.