M. Saleemuddin

Agriculture is the practice of growing crops, and termites evolved agricultural practices that support sustainable food supplies for them over 50 million years ago. This predates the advent of human agriculture, which is only about 10,000 years old. The termite Odontotermes obesus (Indian white termite) is native to southwestern Asia and lives in a symbiotic relationship with the fungus Termitomyces, which it cultivates as a crop and uses as a primary nutritional source. In return, the termite protects the fungus from infection by the weed-like fungus Pseudoxylaria and other pests. Just as humans protect their crops from pests, the fungus farming termites employ clever integrated pest management…read more on NOPR