Grain Research Programme

The Grain Research Program (GRP) is a newly established programme that was developed by a team of multidisciplinary grain researchers from different institutes and programmes at FABI and elsewhere in South Africa. The GRP was formed to engage directly with grain stakeholders to initiate research that will support this sector by identifying future challenges to the industry and exploring solutions to these challenges. To its stakeholders in agriculture, the GRP also provides extension and disease/pest diagnostic services. In other words, the vision of the GRP is to contribute to South Africa’s food security and bioeconomy by conducting basic and solution-oriented research, which in turn forms a base for further innovation in the South African agricultural sector.

Other FABI programmes in the grain health domain:

Applied Mycology

Cereal Foliar Pathogen Research

DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Plant Health Biotechnology

Crop Floral Biology And Environments

Molecular Plant Physiology

Molecular Plant-Pathogen Interactions

Potato Pathology Programme

Seed Science

New Publications

Ribeiro MF, Cavallini G, Solce GN, Favoreto AL, De Souza Passos J-R, Barbosa LR, Hurley BP, Wilcken CF. (2026) Cold storage of Gonipterus platensis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) eggs for Anaphes nitens (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) rearing. PeerJ :1-14. 10.7717/peerj.20903

Nethononda PD, Hurley BP, Slippers B, Makhura MN. (2026) Smallholder farmers’ knowledge, perception and management of Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on Zea mays at irrigation schemes in Limpopo province, South Africa. Crop Protection :107457. 10.1016/j.cropro.2025.107457

Thomas C, Wilken PM, Coetzee MPA, Visagie CM. (2025) Advancing the taxonomy of Sclerotinia (Helotiales, Sclerotiniaceae): a review and recommendations for an important plant-pathogenic genus. IMA Fungus 17:e175737. 10.3897/imafungus.17.175737

Regasa K, Beze W, Anjulo A, Wondafrash M, Hurley BP, Lawson SA, Healey M, Germishuizen I. (2025) Evaluating fungicides for the management of rust (Uromycladium acaciae) on black wattle nursery seedlings in Awi zone, Amhara regional state, Ethiopia. International Journal of Forestry Research 10.1155/ijfr/5547814

Nadasen T, Buitendag C, Visser R, Welgemoed T, Hein I, Berger DK. (2025) A latent invader: transcriptomics reveals Cercospora zeina’s stealth infection strategy of maize and immune-activating effectors. Frontiers in Plant Science 16:1-23. 10.3389/fpls.2025.1703682

Yilmaz N, Verheecke-Vaessen C. (2025) Mycotoxins: An ongoing challenge to food safety and security. PLOS Pathogens 21(11) 10.1371/journal.ppat.1013672

Visagie CM, Houbraken J, Overy DP, Sklenář F, Bensch K, Frisvad JC, Mack J, Perrone G, Samson RA, van Vuuren NI, Yilmaz N, Hubka V. (2025) From chaos to tranquillity: a modern approach to the identification, nomenclature and phylogeny of Aspergillus, Penicillium and other Eurotiales, including an updated accepted species list. Studies in Mycology 112:117–260. 10.3114/sim.2025.112.04

Schröder ML, Hurley BP, Wingfield MJ, Slippers B, Garnas JR. (2025) Thermal limitations to the biological control of Gonipterus sp. n. 2 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in South African Eucalyptus plantations. Agricultural and Forest Entomology 10.1111/afe.70002

Coertze S, Coetzee B, Basson E, de Villiers D, Makhura T, Moster D, Slippers B, Rose LJ, Visagie CM, Read D. (2025) First Report of Clavibacter nebraskensis Causing Goss’s Bacterial Leaf Blight on Maize (Zea mays) in South Africa. Plant Disease 109:1580. 10.1094/PDIS-01-25-0164-PDN

Seale T, Brözel VS, Potgieter SC, Rupp O, Blom J, Steenkamp ET, Venter SN. (2025) Diversity of Environmental Escherichia coli in Subtropical Freshwater Systems of South Africa. Current Microbiology 82:414. 10.1007/s00284-025-04402-y

Nzuza P, Schröder ML, Heim RJ, Daniels L, Slippers B, Hurley BP, Germishuizen I, Sivparsad B, Roux J, Maes WH. (2025) Assessing Gonipterus defoliation levels using multispectral unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) data in Eucalyptus plantations. Ecological Informatics 90:103301. 10.1016/j.ecoinf.2025.103301

Kunene S, Mmushi TJ, Steenkamp E, Motaung T. (2025) Pinus-derived membrane vesicles disrupt pathogenic metabolism in fungi. plant biology 10.1111/plb.70069

Dewing C, Yilmaz N, Steenkamp ET, Wingfield BD, Visagie CM. (2025) Capturing the fungal diversity hidden in Eastern Cape dairy pastures. Mycological Progress 24(1):38. 10.1007/s11557-025-02059-2

Dewing C, Yilmaz N, Steenkamp ET, Wingfield BD, Visagie CM. (2025) Capturing the fungal diversity hidden in Eastern Cape dairy pastures. Mycological Progress 24:38. 10.1007/s11557-025-02059-2

Wychkuys KA, Giron E, Hyman G, Barona E, Castro-Llanos FA, Sheil D, Yu L, Du Z, Hurley BP, Slippers B, Germishuizen I, Bojacá CR, Rubiano M, Sathyapala S, Verchot L, Zhang W. (2025) Biological control protects carbon sequestration capacity of plantation forests. Entomologia Generalis 10.1127/entomologia/2025/3015

Harikrishnan K, Rajeshkumar KC, Patil PM, Jeewon R, Visagie CM. (2025) Aspergillus dhakephalkarii and A. patriciawiltshireae spp. nov., two new species in Aspergillus sect. Nigri ser. Japonici (Eurotiales, Aspergillaceae) from India. Phytotaxa 695:57–79. 10.11646/phytotaxa.695.1.2

Mapfumo P, Archer E, Swanevelder ZH, Wilken M, Creux N, Read DA. (2025) Plant Pathology. Genomic Characterisation of Bidens mottle virus in South Africa and an Assessment of the Impact on Helianthus annuus (Sunflower) in an Open Field Setting 10.1111/ppa.14089

Stazione L, Corley JC, Allison JD, Hurley BP, Lawson SA, Lantschner MV. (2025) Novel associations among insect herbivores and trees: Patterns of occurrence and damage on pines and eucalypts. Ecological Applications 35:e70018. 10.1002/eap.70018

Townsend G, Hill M, Hurley BP, Roets F. (2025) Escalating threat: increasing impact of the polyphagous shot hole borer beetle, Euwallacea fornicatus, in nearly all major South African forest types. Biological Invasions 27 10.1007/s10530-025-03551-2

Muema EK, van Lill M, Venter SN, Claassens R, Steenkamp ET. (2025) Mesorhizobium salmacidum sp. nov. and Mesorhizobium argentiipisi sp. nov. are symbionts of the dry-land forage legumes Lessertia diffusa and Calobota sericea. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 19(3):1-20. 10.1007/s10482-025-02063-2

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