scholarly journals The persistent threat of emerging plant disease pandemics to global food security

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (23) ◽  
pp. e2022239118
Author(s):  
Jean B. Ristaino ◽  
Pamela K. Anderson ◽  
Daniel P. Bebber ◽  
Kate A. Brauman ◽  
Nik J. Cunniffe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Disease Surveillance ◽  
Plant Disease ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Plant Diseases ◽  
Trade Networks ◽  
Global Food Security ◽  
Integrated Research ◽  
Global Food ◽  
Detection Technologies

Plant disease outbreaks are increasing and threaten food security for the vulnerable in many areas of the world. Now a global human pandemic is threatening the health of millions on our planet. A stable, nutritious food supply will be needed to lift people out of poverty and improve health outcomes. Plant diseases, both endemic and recently emerging, are spreading and exacerbated by climate change, transmission with global food trade networks, pathogen spillover, and evolution of new pathogen lineages. In order to tackle these grand challenges, a new set of tools that include disease surveillance and improved detection technologies including pathogen sensors and predictive modeling and data analytics are needed to prevent future outbreaks. Herein, we describe an integrated research agenda that could help mitigate future plant disease pandemics.

scholarly journals Surveillance of airborne plant disease dissemination at continental scale using air mass trajectory analysis and network theory

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Radici ◽  
Davide Martinetti ◽  
Daniele Bevacqua
Keyword(s):  
Stem Rust ◽  
Disease Surveillance ◽  
Plant Disease ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Plant Diseases ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Continental Scale ◽  
Prophylactic Measures ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Meteorological Features

Sustainable management of plant disease outbreaks in agriculture is one of the main challenges of the next years to restore economic and environmental viability of farming practices. Improving early-detection capabilities and disease surveillance is increasingly seen as an obligate step to design appropriate and effective prophylactic measures. In this context, plant diseases caused by wind-dispersed pathogens represent a peculiar case of study, since they are particularly complex and hard to observe directly, especially if compared to other dissemination means, and demand for a multidisciplinary approach to be dealt with. Wind dispersal could imply a geographic differentiation in pathogens spreading potential, due to the emerging of local meteorological features. In this work we analyze the spatio-temporal patterns of wind connectivity in Europe and the Mediterranean basin in order to identify possible pathways of Puccinia graminis spores, the causal agent of stem rust of wheat. By running backwards Lagrangian simulations merging a biological layer coupled with a pathogen viability model, we investigate possible long-distance connections between regions in the study area across different seasons. We characterized these regions in terms of network centrality indicators to identify possible spreaders of stem rust of wheat, founding that Central and Western European regions appears to provide highest connectivity for the spread of P. graminis.

scholarly journals Plant Disease Diagnostic Capabilities in Venezuela: Implications for Food Security

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edgloris Marys ◽  
Ligia Carolina Rosales
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Plant Disease ◽  
Crop Protection ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Rural Livelihoods ◽  
Plant Diseases ◽  
Humanitarian Crisis ◽  
Pests And Diseases ◽  
Protection Strategies ◽  
Diagnostic Capabilities

Venezuela is currently experiencing the most severe humanitarian crisis in the Americas of this century. Little food is being produced locally, despite the population's right to food. Plant disease outbreaks are causing substantial declines in major staple food and cash crops, and this impacts on rural livelihoods, and poses a significant and growing threat to the already complex food insecurity crisis in the country. Nonetheless, phytosanitary services and hence the control of plant pests and diseases have been substantially weakened over the recent years as a consequence of the collapse of the economy and the substantial deterioration of government services. Therefore, most of the pathogens associated with symptoms-causing diseases remain unidentified or uncharacterized, and no surveillance or crop protection strategies have been implemented. In this review, we address the country's issues and challenges in diagnosing, monitoring and managing plant diseases to restore national food security.

Plant Disease: A Threat to Global Food Security

2005 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard N. Strange ◽  
Peter R. Scott
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Plant Disease ◽  
Global Food Security ◽  
Global Food
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