Tropical Crop Pests and Diseases in a Climate Change Setting—A Few Examples

Author(s):  
Christian Cilas ◽  
François-Régis Goebel ◽  
Régis Babin ◽  
Jacques Avelino
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel A. Taylor ◽  
Sadie J. Ryan ◽  
Catherine A. Lippi ◽  
David G. Hall ◽  
Hossein A. Narouei-Khandan ◽  
...  

AbstractPredicting where crop pests and diseases can occur, both now and in the future under different climate change scenarios, is a major challenge for crop management. One solution is to estimate the fundamental thermal niche of the pest/disease to indicate where establishment is possible. Here we develop methods for estimating and displaying the fundamental thermal niche of pests and pathogens and apply these methods to Huanglongbing (HLB), a vector-borne disease that is currently threatening the citrus industry worldwide.We derive a suitability metric based on a mathematical model of HLB transmission between tree hosts and its vector Diaphorina citri, and incorporate the effect of temperature on vector traits using data from laboratory experiments performed at different temperatures. We validate the model using data on the historical range of HLB.Our model predicts that transmission of HLB is possible between 16°C and 33°C with peak transmission at ~25°C. The greatest uncertainty in our suitability metric is associated with the mortality of the vectors at peak transmission, and fecundity at the edges of the thermal range, indicating that these parameters need further experimental work.We produce global thermal niche maps by plotting how many months each location is suitable for establishment of the pest/disease. This analysis reveals that the highest suitability for HLB occurs near the equator in large citrus-producing regions, such as Brazil and South-East Asia. Within the northern hemisphere, the Iberian peninsula and California are HLB suitable for up to 7 months of the year and are free of HLB currently.Policy implications. The thermal niche map indicates the places at greatest risk of HLB establishment should the disease enter these regions. This indicates where surveillance should be focused to prevent establishment. Our mechanistic method can be used to predict new areas for HLB transmission under different climate change scenarios and is easily adapted to other vector-borne diseases.


2021 ◽  
pp. 105658
Author(s):  
Alain Ratnadass ◽  
Jacques Avelino ◽  
Paula Fernandes ◽  
Philippe Letourmy ◽  
Régis Babin ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
O. Adebisi-Adelani ◽  
M. Akeredolu

ABSTRACT Production is the basis of value-chain which is a key factor in Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) in Nigeria. Thus, for successful production of horticultural crops the importance of climate cannot be overemphasized. Therefore, in this era of climate change there is the need to study farmers' knowledge of climate change and their production level. The study was carried out in Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was used to arrive at a study population of 441 tomato and citrus farmers. Data were collected using Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), structured interview schedule and secondary data (FAOSTAT). It was analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentage and pie charts) and inferential statistics (Pearson Product Moment Correlation). There existed no significant relationship between knowledge level of respondents and change in production of both crops. The reason for this could be that no matter what the level of knowledge one may have on the subject of climate change it does not have anything to do with production, adaptation strategies is the key. Citrus and tomato farmers' adaptation strategies to climate change includes among others crop management, use of varieties resistant to pests and diseases, altering the timing or location of cropping activities, different planting dates and shortened length of growing period. In conclusion climate change has affected the production of horticultural crops therefore for ATA to have a good footing there is the need to focus on the adaptation strategies that can combat the effect of climatic changes. Key words: Horticultural crops, Horticultural farmers, Climate, Production, Knowledge,


AGROFOR ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adanna HENRI-UKOHA

The study on choice of climate change adaptation strategies practiced by cassavabased farmers was conducted in Southern Nigeria. The following specific objectives were achieved: to ascertain the perceived effects of climate change in the study area and to determine factors influencing the choice of using climate change adaptation strategies by cassava-based farmers in the study area. Data were obtained through the administration of questionnaire to 300 randomly sampled cassava-based farmers in the study area. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean, frequencies, percentages and inferential statistics such as Multinomial Logit Regression technique. The result revealed that farmers perceived increase in flood incidence (91.33%), drought (90.67%), high incidence of pests and diseases (55%) and low yield (50%) as the effects of climate change in the study area. Also, from the results, 58% of the farmers chose not to employ the use of climate change adaptation strategies while only 42% decided to choose using climate change adaptation options in the study area. The result also showed that age of the farmer, farming experience, gender, marital status, level of education, household size, access to credit, access to agricultural extension services and membership of association were the factors influencing the choice climate change adaptation strategies used by the farmers. The study concluded that socioeconomic attributes of the farmers affected their choice of climate change adaptation strategies. Policy should be targeted at designing climate change adaptation technology to farmers as well as providing the enabling environment that would encourage them to employ it.


Author(s):  
Tamika A. Garrick ◽  
Oscar E. Liburd

The world population is expected to exceed 9 billion by 2050 and most of this growth will occur in developing countries. As population increases, more arable lands will be used to construct cities and these activities increase CO2 in the atmosphere and contribute to climate change. Climate assessments have shown rising sea levels and increase in the frequency of droughts in many dry areas. Prolonged droughts can decrease the relative amounts of water available for human consumption and agriculture. In developing countries agriculture contributes to more than 15% of GDP and when crops and livestock are deprived of water they become more susceptible to pests and diseases. As climate change continues to occur there is a need to develop strategies to manage key invasive pest and disease species that threaten agricultural production. Thrips are major agricultural pests with the majority of species in tropical regions. They are cosmopolitan in nature and damage crops when they feed and lay eggs in many parts of the plant. Thrips are also vectors for spreading plant diseases. They disperse quickly into new areas where susceptible hosts exist. This chapter focuses on a few important thrips species that threatens agricultural production in the Americas including Central and South America and the Caribbean. The chapter discusses the ecology and pest management strategies for key invasive thrips species and examines the potential effects of climate change on these troublesome species.


2021 ◽  
pp. 83-99
Author(s):  
Vikash Kumar ◽  
Anjali Chauhan ◽  
Avinash Kumar Shinde ◽  
Ramesh L. Kunkerkar ◽  
Deepak Sharma ◽  
...  

Abstract With the inevitable risk posed by global climate change affecting crop yield and the ever-increasing demands of agricultural produce, crop improvement techniques need to be more precise in developing smart crop varieties. The rice crop, a staple food for the majority of the world population, has a significant role to play in alleviating the global hunger problem. With the world population burgeoning at an unprecedented rate, limited fertile land resources, climate change, emerging new races of pests and diseases and consumer preferences for quality attributes, it is imperative to increase crop diversity, and this requires better selection efficiency addressing the challenges of future rice production. Mutation breeding is a fundamental and very successful tool helping to increase crop diversity and allowing plant breeders to exercise their skill in developing desirable crop varieties. The induction of mutations has been used to enhance yield, improve nutritional quality and widen the adaptability of the world's most important crops such as wheat, rice, pulses, millets and oilseeds. India is considered to be one of the primary centres of origin of crop species with the concomitant very high genetic diversity in traditional landraces for different agronomic traits of economic importance. Plant architecture, such as plant height, branching habit (tiller number), leaf shape and patterns, floral and grain traits and quality traits such as aroma, amylose content and cooking quality are of tremendous importance for rice improvement programmes. Traditional landraces of rice have premium grain quality, fetching a premium price, but their cultivation is being marginalized due to their tall stature, proneness to lodging, late maturity and poor yield. Mutation breeding technology has been successfully implemented in rice improvement programmes, which have resulted in the improvement of aromatic rice varieties, such as 'Pusa Basmati 1', 'Dubraj and Jawaphool'. Two high-yielding mutant rice varieties, TCDM-1 ('Trombay Chhattisgarh Dubraj Mutant-1') and TKR Kolam ('Trombay Karjat Rice Kolam'), have been released for cultivation in Chhattisgarh and the Konkan region of Maharashtra. Both these varieties possess dwarf plant stature (110 cm), medium maturity (130 days), premium grain quality and resistance to major pests and diseases. Improvement of other traditional rice varieties is underway which will bring these varieties back into cultivation and help in improving the tribal and marginal farmers' economy.


Author(s):  
Paramu Mafongoya ◽  
Augustine Gubba ◽  
Vaneson Moodley ◽  
Debra Chapoto ◽  
Lavinia Kisten ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A. Giliba ◽  
Issa H. Mpinga ◽  
Sood A. Ndimuligo ◽  
Mathew M. Mpanda

Abstract Background Climate change creates opportune conditions that favour the spread of pests and diseases outside their known active range. Modelling climate change scenarios is oftentimes useful tool to assess the climate analogues to unveil the potential risk of spreading suitability conditions for pests and diseases and hence allows development of appropriate responses to address the impending challenge. In the current study, we modelled the impact of climate change on the distribution of Varroa destructor, a parasitic mite that attacks all life forms of honey bees and remains a significant threat to their survival and productivity of bee products in Tanzania and elsewhere. Methods The data about the presence of V. destructor were collected in eight regions of Tanzania selected in consideration of several factors including potentials for beekeeping activities, elevation (highlands vs. lowlands) and differences in climatic conditions. A total of 19 bioclimatic datasets covering the entire country were used for developing climate scenarios of mid-century 2055 and late-century 2085 for both rcp4.5 and rcp8.5. We thereafter modelled the current and future risk distribution of V. destructor using MaxEnt. Results The results indicated a model performance of AUC = 0.85, with mean diurnal range in temperature (Bio2, 43.9%), mean temperature (Bio1, 20.6%) and mean annual rainfall (Bio12, 11.7%) as the important variables. Future risk projections indicated mixed responses of the potential risk of spreads of V. destructor, exhibiting both decrease and increases in the mid-century 2055 and late-century 2085 on different sites. Overall, there is a general decline of highly suitable areas of V. destructor in mid- and late-century across all scenarios (rcp4.5 and rcp8.5). The moderately suitable areas indicated a mixed response in mid-century with decline (under rcp4.5) and increase (under rcp8.5) and consistent increase in late century. The marginally suitable areas show a decline in mid-century and increase in late-century. Our results suggest that the climate change will continue to significantly affect the distribution and risks spread of V. destructor in Tanzania. The suitability range of V. destructor will shift where highly suitable areas will be diminishing to the advantage of the honey bees’ populations, but increase of moderately suitable sites indicates an expansion to new areas. The late century projections show the increased risks due to surge in the moderate and marginal suitability which means expansion in the areas where V. destructor will operate. Conclusion The current and predicted areas of habitat suitability for V. destructor’s host provides information useful for beekeeping stakeholders in Tanzania to consider the impending risks and allow adequate interventions to address challenges facing honey bees and the beekeeping industry. We recommend further studies on understanding the severity of V. destructor in health and stability of the honey bees in Tanzania. This will provide a better picture on how the country will need to monitor and reduce the risks associated with the increase of V. destructor activities as triggered by climate change. The loss of honey bees’ colonies and its subsequent impact in bees’ products production and pollination effect have both ecological and economic implications that need to have prioritization by the stakeholders in the country to address the challenge of spreading V. destructor.


2012 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott C. Chapman ◽  
Sukumar Chakraborty ◽  
M. Fernanda Dreccer ◽  
S. Mark Howden

Climate change in Australia is expected to influence crop growing conditions through direct increases in elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) and average temperature, and through increases in the variability of climate, with potential to increase the occurrence of abiotic stresses such as heat, drought, waterlogging, and salinity. Associated effects of climate change and higher CO2 concentrations include impacts on the water-use efficiency of dryland and irrigated crop production, and potential effects on biosecurity, production, and quality of product via impacts on endemic and introduced pests and diseases, and tolerance to these challenges. Direct adaptation to these changes can occur through changes in crop, farm, and value-chain management and via economically driven, geographic shifts where different production systems operate. Within specific crops, a longer term adaptation is the breeding of new varieties that have an improved performance in ‘future’ growing conditions compared with existing varieties. In crops, breeding is an appropriate adaptation response where it complements management changes, or when the required management changes are too expensive or impractical. Breeding requires the assessment of genetic diversity for adaptation, and the selection and recombining of genetic resources into new varieties for production systems for projected future climate and atmospheric conditions. As in the past, an essential priority entering into a ‘climate-changed’ era will be breeding for resistance or tolerance to the effects of existing and new pests and diseases. Hence, research on the potential incidence and intensity of biotic stresses, and the opportunities for breeding solutions, is essential to prioritise investment, as the consequences could be catastrophic. The values of breeding activities to adapt to the five major abiotic effects of climate change (heat, drought, waterlogging, salinity, and elevated CO2) are more difficult to rank, and vary with species and production area, with impacts on both yield and quality of product. Although there is a high likelihood of future increases in atmospheric CO2 concentrations and temperatures across Australia, there is uncertainty about the direction and magnitude of rainfall change, particularly in the northern farming regions. Consequently, the clearest opportunities for ‘in-situ’ genetic gains for abiotic stresses are in developing better adaptation to higher temperatures (e.g. control of phenological stage durations, and tolerance to stress) and, for C3 species, in exploiting the (relatively small) fertilisation effects of elevated CO2. For most cultivated plant species, it remains to be demonstrated how much genetic variation exists for these traits and what value can be delivered via commercial varieties. Biotechnology-based breeding technologies (marker-assisted breeding and genetic modification) will be essential to accelerate genetic gain, but their application requires additional investment in the understanding, genetic characterisation, and phenotyping of complex adaptive traits for climate-change conditions.


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