FAO views plant protection as an integral part of sustainable agriculture

The IV All-Russian Plant Protection Congress devoted to “Phytosanitary technologies in ensuring the independence and competitiveness of the Russian agro-industrial complex” was held in St. Petersburg from 9 to 11 September. The congress brought together over 500 scientists and specialists from all over Russia to share knowledge and experience, present research results and discuss plant protection innovations in agriculture.

Viliami Fakava, FAO Plant Production and Protection Officer with the Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (REU) in Budapest, was one of the key speakers at the forum. His presentation highlighted the importance of Plant Protection as an integral part of sustainable agriculture development aimed at enhancing food and nutrition security worldwide.

FAO estimates that the projected global population growth requires food production to increase by 70% before 2050 to meet demand. Plant pests and diseases pose a major threat to ensuring food security, with about 30 to 40 per cent of global food crops (with an economic value of USD 290 billion annually) lost, underlined the FAO expert.

FAO offers technical support on Plant Protection to the European and Central Asian region, noted Fakava. The key areas of FAO Plant Protection support include: Integrated Pest Management (IPM); Phytosanitary Capacity strengthening; Pest Monitoring system; Vocational Education and Policy Development.

In 2017, FAO REU developed a regional publication on “Integrated pest management of major pests and diseases in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus”. This is a guide for management of 27 major plant pests and 23 plant diseases common in the region.

FAO has also developed specialized digital innovative technologies and geographic information systems for effective monitoring and early warning of some key Transboundary Plant Pests and Diseases. These include the modernization and integration of national RAMSES and global SWARMS geographic information systems  for Desert Locust, increased functionality for FAMEWS (Fall Armyworm), and SusaHamra (Red Palm Weevil) platforms.

Forum participants identified several major issues related to instituting effective plant protection measures:

• The impact of climate change will lead to more, and not easily predictable, plant disease outbreaks and development of pathogens with new epidemiological characteristics, no longer matching present control systems.
• Resilient cropping and crop protection systems, and further development of IPM systems are needed to cope with strongly fluctuating biological and physical stresses on crops.
• Precision farming with digital innovation technologies using global navigation satellite systems, geographic information systems, remote sensing, and data management and monitoring systems for crop protection is of increasing importance.
• Significant increases in the costs of research, development, and maintaining crop protection chemicals in the market will still be a key challenge for private companies’ research and development.