Agricultural Pest Management Policies during Drought: Case Studies in Australia and the State of Palestine

Abstract

Due to increases in water demand—caused by escalating increases in population and water deficiency and scarcity—and due to the increase in climate change and global warming impacts, much focus has been directed to regional and national drought policies related, particularly, to water resources and agriculture. This paper aims to review the consequences and impacts of droughts on pest outbreaks. The approaches presented herein demonstrate various actions to be taken in order to limit drought outcomes and the impacts of pests. In Australia alone, the analyses showed that drought caused approximately a $7.4 billion drop in the agricultural sector. Accordingly, drought can be considered as one of the major causes of agricultural pests. To manage them, biological controls and self-reliance for drought are the best and most inexpensive approaches to be taken within the framework of an integrated pest management scheme. Australia and the State of Palestine were selected as case studies for investigation in this study, because both regions have common problems related to water resources and water scarcity. In addition, although both regions suffer droughts, they have developed different adaptation measures, which are affected by different political and socioeconomic influences, with the aim of supporting farmers, who are unable to maintain feed to their livestock and take care of their agricultural crops and yields (plant production). Breakthrough offers new hopes for global food security, as parts of wheat that relate to coeliac disease and other allergies can now be tracked. Some solutions are suggested in this study, and the national drought policies in both regions are investigated and analyzed.