Björn Andersson

Field Pathologist, Division of Plant Pathology/Epidemiology

E-mail

bjorn.le.andersson@slu.se

Phone

+4618-671617

I work as field pathologist at the department where I see it as an important task to establish an effective interface between research and practice to facilitate collaboration on plant disease management.

Presentation

Plant pathology as a scientific discipline is by definition highly applied. Diseases in crops directly affect the profitability of individual growers. At the same time, growers must manage challenges such as increasing demands for efficient and rational farming, consumer expectations, and political goals to reduce pesticide use. A new challenge is the impact of climate change on the occurrence of plant diseases. Protecting crops against attacks from various pathogens is therefore a complex problem that needs to be addressed from multiple perspectives. A strong link between plant pathology research and applied agriculture benefits both SLU and the agricultural sector.

Research

I also work as a researcher in various projects. My main interest within plant pathology is late blight in potatoes (Phytophthora infestans), where I have worked on projects ranging from fungicide testing and epidemiological modeling to population studies based on molecular markers. I also participate in several other projects concerning different aspects of fungal diseases on crops such as oilseed rape, potatoes, and wheat.