Two professors celebrated in Flakkebjerg

May 3, 2019 was a very special day for AGRO – and for plant pathology. This was the day when no less than two newly-appointed full professors in plant pathology – Mogens Støvring Hovmøller and Mogens Nicolaisen – were celebrated in AU Flakkebjerg. 

Colleagues from far and near, companies, authorities, friends and family – approximately 140 people all told – gathered together in AU Flakkebjerg partly to hear the professors’ inaugural lectures and partly to help make the day a festive one with speeches and tributes.

- It was a big day for research and for plant pathology. It is unique to appoint no less than two new professors in plant pathology and it gives AGRO both depth and width in the subject area. The fact that Mogens and Mogens held their inaugural lectures on the same day and in the same place has made for good synergy, says Head of Department Erik Steen Kristensen. 

The microscopic and the global

Mogens Nicolaisen focused on microbiomes. He pointed out that the use of chemicals in agriculture to optimise crop yields is not sustainable because pesticides have many negative effects on the environment and human health.   

- Because of global population growth, it is imperative to find innovative and sustainable but also productive crop production methods. Taking advantage of the potential of the soil’s extremely diverse microbiome is a promising strategy to increase nutrient uptake and plant disease resistance, said Mogens Nicolaisen. In his lecture, he gave examples of his and his colleagues’ studies of microbiomes in connection with plants and their effects on crops.     

Mogens Støvring Hovmøller’s angle was on the impact of plant diseases on global food security. 

- A wide range of plant pathogens causes diseases in important agricultural crops that are used for food all over the world. The effects of these diseases range from mild symptoms with no significance for yield and quality to large-scale destruction of crops. Historically, the most spectacular outbreaks of plant diseases have occurred when new ’exotic’ races of pathogens have spread to geographic areas where a disease has previously been rare or non-existing, said Mogens Støvring Hovmøller.

He presented examples of the importance of rust in wheat in various places in the world and of international efforts to curb the effects of these events, including research and activities at the Global Rust Research Center in Flakkebjerg. 

You can also read: 

New professor of plant pathology at Aarhus University (about Mogens Støvring Hovmøller) 

New professor in plant pathology (about Mogens Nicolaisen)