Patrick J. Rich

Patrick J. Rich studies how cereal crops like sorghum can resist Striga, a parasitic weed that severely damages agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. His work focuses on the genetics and chemistry of plant signaling molecules called strigolactones, which Striga seeds use to detect and attack host crops, and on breeding or mutating crops to reduce this vulnerability. This research combines plant genetics, molecular biology, and crop breeding aimed at improving food security in affected regions.

Publication output has been modest and uneven over the last decade, with occasional gaps followed by a small increase in output in 2023-2024.

Generated by claude-sonnet-5 from public bibliographic data · Jul 20, 2026