The United Nations General Assembly declared 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health with events aimed at raising awareness on how protecting plant health can help end hunger, reduce poverty, protect the environment, and boost economic development.

One such event - a video competition ‘Plant Health TV: Research that helps Plant Health’ - has received 38 entries, including two videos from New Zealand. One is on Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) from the Ministry for Primary Industries, and the other is on external scanning of shipping containers for contaminants from Better Border Biosecurity/University of Canterbury.

As part of the competition all videos must be less than three minutes and related to research that is conducted on plant health. Amongst other (more objective) criteria, the winner will be decided based on the number of “likes” associated with the YouTube video. So, don’t hesitate to watch the New Zealand videos and support our scientists!