Countries around the world suffer from famines due to irregular crop yields, and third-world countries are the most susceptible. Poor farming practices, including having low genetic variation, makes them susceptible to disease and widespread wipeouts of farms.

Effect of Famine

One case study examining this was the potato famine in Ireland, where lowered crop output dramatically lowered the population. If we can detect diseases in the leaves of the plants early, we can potentially increase the yields of agriculture.