Regional cooperation is needed in India to check emerging plant health threats, say Experts

Published 2020년 11월 20일

Tridge summary

A series of webinars during the Phytosanitary Awareness Week highlighted the threat posed by emerging crop health threats such as locusts, Fall armyworm, wheat blast, banana Fusarium wilt Tropical Race 4, and UG99 to food security. The importance of robust phytosanitary measures was emphasized to prevent the spread of these pests and pathogens through the global exchange of crop germplasm. The webinars covered various aspects of seed-borne pests management, monitoring of emerging diseases, and the use of advanced pathogen detection techniques. The need for collaboration between various stakeholders, including CGIAR Germplasm Health Units, FAO, IPPC, NPPOs, and other organizations, was emphasized to strengthen monitoring, enhance testing methods, and develop suitable alternatives to harmful chemicals for seed treatment.

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Original content

Locusts, Fall armyworm, wheat blast, banana Fusarium wilt Tropical Race 4 and UG99 – a virulent strain of wheat stem rust, are some of the emerging crop health threats that require to be addressed efficiently to safeguard food security. This was emphasized by representatives of germplasm health units in CGIAR and its partner organizations during a week-long series of webinars to observe this year’s Phytosanitary Awareness Week. The importance of robust phytosanitary measures was made apparent through demonstrations of the large exchange of material (both import and export) across the world during the Asia webinar on 10 November. Moderated by Dr Rajan Sharma, Head of ICRISAT’s Plant Quarantine Unit, it focused on phytosanitary implications of global exchange of crop germplasm and emerging crop pests and pathogens in Asia. “Minor pests and diseases are becoming important due to climate change,” said Dr Safaa Kumari, Head of ICARDA’s Seed Health Lab, while listing some challenges to ...

Source: Icrisat