International Year of Plant Health Activities Continuing Despite COVID-19 Pandemic

(May 22, 2020) - Events planned to mark 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH) have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yet, scientists say it is still as critical as ever to draw attention to the importance of plant health with a further increase in global hunger as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.

The IYPH declared by the United Nations is intended to create a unique opportunity to showcase plant health in an effort to end hunger, reduce poverty, protect the environment, and boost economic development around the world, says Kira Bowen, a professor in the Auburn University Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology and past president of the American Phytopathological Society.

Bowen moderated a FAO North America and Corteva Agriscience webinar discussion on May 20 about “Protecting Plant Health for a Secure Future: A Call for Global Action.”

Protecting Plant Health

A diverse group of scientists from around the world is trying to drive the collective knowledge about the importance of plant health forward, Bowen says. The webinar was designed to show what the global community is doing to protect plant health, what role farmers and agribusinesses are playing, and how food companies are interacting with supply chains to drive improved plant health.

“Plant health is increasingly under threat,” says Vimlendra Sharan, FAO North America director. “International travel has spread pests and diseases which cause great damage. It is necessary for us to bring worldwide attention to this challenge. Once we emerge from the global pandemic, we want to be able to regroup and refocus on plant health.”

The pandemic has brought attention to the importance of having a safe and abundant food supply, says Henri Moore, Corteva vice president of global responsibility.

“Food is uniting families and sustaining us through the crisis,” Moore says. “Global food security is key. Protecting plants is essential work to feeding the world.”

The company’s goal is to enrich the lives of those who produce and those who consume food, which helps to ensure progress for generations to come, says Frederic Beudot, Corteva biologicals leader.

Part of its focus, he explains, is to find the right mix of innovations by connecting the dots in food systems and value chains.

Connecting with farmers. Despite the pandemic, companies are trying to continue their outreach efforts and continue projects designed to provide training for farmers to improve plant health and safeguard against pests and diseases.

The pandemic has shown finding new ways of communicating with small-scale farmers is possible but not ideal, says Marius Boshoff, Villa Crop Protection Pvt Ltd, Land O’Lakes, marketing director.

“It is possible to do remote training, but that does not replace being in the field,” Boshoff says.

Raising Awareness

According to Jingyuan Xia, secretary, FAO International Plant Protection Convention Secretariat, pests and diseases cause up to 40% of economic losses in the trade of agricultural products, or about $220 billion.

Raising awareness among public and political decision makers is a key to ending hunger, reducing poverty, protecting the environment, and boosting safe trade and economic development, Xia says.

“Much still needs to be done to secure plant health,” Xia says. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to show the importance of plant health and protection.”

Xia points out IYPH activities have been canceled, postponed, or are being held virtually. Some activities have been extended, with the International Plant Health Conference in Helsinki, Finland that was originally scheduled this year now being planned to be held in 2021.

Safeguarding Agriculture and Facilitating Safe Trade

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) works to safeguard agriculture and facilitate safe trade, says. Safeguarding against invasive pests is important, says Osama El-Lissy, APHIS deputy administrator for plant protection and quarantine.

“We work to make sure goods of imports and exports do not spread pests and diseases around the world,” El-Lissy says.

One of the challenges facing the agriculture industry globally is meeting the increasing plant health demands with a finite amount of resources, El-Lissy says. Advanced analytics, he notes, is one tool being used to improve forecasting models and help in responding to threats.

“We try to identify areas where pest threats might exist,” El-Lissy says. “We use information to drive our programs and operations.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the importance of electronic certification, El-Lissy says.

“One thing that has not changed is we cannot achieve the safeguarding of agriculture alone,” he says. “We collaborate with many partners on the global, federal, state, and local levels. Partnerships are critical elements to our success.”

El-Lissy says they need to continue as a plant health community around the world to find effective ways to continue to improve upon collaborations in order to become as effective as possible in dealing with invasive pests around the globe.

Written by Chris Lusvardi, Seed Today editor