By Ken KOUTCHAKPO
World Pest Day is observed on June 6th to raise awareness about the impact of pests on human health, food, and the environment, and the role of R&D to combat pests.
Plant pests and diseases cause up to 40 percent of crop losses annually, amounting to approximately US$220 billion, disproportionately affecting Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC) farmers. Climate change, trade, and agricultural intensification are driving the increased outbreaks of pests and diseases.
To combat the threat of plant pests and diseases, the Sustainable Farming Program (SFP) is boosting investment in accessible diagnostic tools, strengthening surveillance programmes and promoting integrated pest management (IPM).
“We are scaling technologies to help farmers manage pests and diseases, particularly biocontrol for pests such as fall armyworm, mealybugs and pod borers, said Dr. Lava Kumar, Head of the Germplasm Health Unit and Virology and Molecular Diagnostics at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).
Dr. Kumar noted that simultaneous efforts have focused on assessing the impact of climate change on pests using tools such as Insect Life Cycle Modeling (ILCYM). The SFP program also has a biorisk management facility to strengthen West Africa regional capacity to combat pests.
SFP is building on the priorities identified during a needs assessment conducted across 26 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, to identify knowledge and capacity gaps in pest and disease surveillance and response strategies.
The survey identified major research and capacity gaps of National Plant Protection Organizations (NPPOs) and highlighted the need to equip NPPOs to best respond to the growing threats of plant pests and diseases. However, many NPPOs lack the capacity to properly carry out the necessary diagnosis, surveillance, and extension work at the scale and speed required to contain such crop disease and pest crises, particularly in the low- and middle-income countries in the Global South.
The survey found that banana/plantain, maize, potato, and rice were the crops most targeted for pest and disease surveillance efforts.
Confirming priority crops will help set priorities for developing common diagnostic methods, sharing protocols across regions and support/share knowledge to improve the diagnostic capacity as a preparedness strategy for emerging pests, according to the Sustainable Farming Program.
The SFP believes young scientists could play a crucial role for this digital transformation to raise the standards in data management over the next few years.
To roll out the pest and diagnostics and surveillance roadmap, the Sustainable Farming Program will rely on the regional diagnostic hubs hosted by the CGIAR Germplasm Health Units across the continents.
This worldwide survey, benefiting from the long-term partnerships of CGIAR Germplasm Health Units, could be seen as the foundation block of an urgently needed global plant health diagnostics and surveillance network to counter the growing risks of future plant disease and pest outbreaks.
Research and capacity building by the Sustainable Farming Program is supporting plant health, mycotoxin-free crops, integrated water management, context specific mechanization, climate adaptation and mitigation on farms, and farm system integration.
The initiative marks a crucial step toward a global plant health network to ensure farmers can detect, contain, and combat outbreaks before they devastate crops.
