Benchmarks: Fungi detector

A new range of fungal disease detectors for the farmer, which work in minutes rather than days, has been launched by Scottish company Adgen Diagnostic Systems.

Using a series of simple tests, the farmer can identify three important but difficult to spot crop diseases caused by the fungi; phytophthora, pythium and rhizoctonia.

The diagnostic tests, which rely on antibodies, are designed for use in the field by a farmer with little or no technical knowledge.